The Agbor Stakeholders Forum (ASF) has urged President Bola Tinubu to have a change of heart and release former Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele.
The group described the situation as the most significant political witch-hunt in Nigeria’s history, noting that no other Central Bank of Nigeria governor has faced such extensive investigation before.
Kanene Kachikwu, speaking for the group, criticized the government’s attempt to target Emefiele for political reasons, citing Deloitte Consulting’s engagement to audit CBN’s forex transactions during Emefiele’s tenure.
The statement alleges that Deloitte’s investigation, influenced by the government, aims to incriminate Emefiele after previous attempts failed.
The group appealed “to President Bola Tinubu to have a change of heart and let our brother go. He has gone through a lot already having lost his tenured job and having suffered humiliation and incarceration for months, we urge Mr President to apply the graces of his good offices and free our brother. Having won the crown, we appeal to him to grant our brother reprieve in the spirit of reconciliation and national healing.“
The forum then stated thus: “Recall that since June 2023, immediately after the inauguration of President Tinubu, Emefiele has been subjected to intense probes and scrutinies without let, till date.
“The first grilling of Emefiele was by the Department of State Service, DSS.
“DSS had plucked our brother from his Lagos home on June 10, 2023. They had detained him in Abuja and literally turned him upside-down.
“The DSS had initially accused him of financing terror. They kept him in their custody for about four months. They visited all his property everywhere in Nigeria and ransacked them all.
“At the end of the day, they found only a little ‘toy’ gun. They didn’t get an iota of evidence to prosecute him on the accusation of funding terror or gun-running.
“The DSS dragged Emefiele to court several times on some trumped-up charges, but not one charge could stand up before the court.
“The DSS shamefacedly handed Emefiele to brother agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. The EFCC that was supposed to investigate Emefiele in the first place also dredged up all sorts of unfounded allegations of financial malfeasance, including procurement offences. But none could stand the test of basic legality.“
According to Vanguard, the group reiterated that Godwin Emefiele, who came from a prominent position in one of Africa’s largest banks, was headhunted for the role of Central Bank of Nigeria governor in 2014.
They emphasized that Emefiele’s motivation was not financial gain but rather the mobilization of dormant long-term funds for Nigeria’s rapid development.
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