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BY: News Peddlers
According to two officials familiar with the situation, the State Security Service has begun a manhunt for Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele.
As a result, the domestic intelligence office has dispatched several officers to monitor the CBN Headquarters, Mr Emefiele's family residence in Lagos, and the Abuja residence of businessman Christopher Emefiele, who is not related by blood, Peoples Gazette learned this weekend.
An SSS officer familiar with the situation said the deployment was ordered by an assistant director and that he couldn't say whether Director-General Yusuf Bichi approved it.
"We have different teams of at least two each monitoring those places," the officer said on the condition of anonymity in order to disclose only the broad strokes of an ongoing operation. "We don't know if they have more people deployed to even more places, but we saw no signal from the DG's office indicating his involvement at this time."
According to Peoples Gazette, the officers were still quietly monitoring the locations as of Saturday morning. Christopher Emefiele declined to comment on whether he had observed state agents near his property. On Saturday morning, Mr Emefiele's phones rang, and his wife Margaret declined a request for comment.
The development comes as Mr Emefiele's whereabouts became murky after learning of the SSS's active threat to arrest him. Earlier this month, the agency unsuccessfully sought a warrant from the Federal High Court, with a federal judge ruling that sufficient probable cause was not established for the issuance of a warrant against a sitting governor of the nation's banker and the nation's top banking regulator.
The SSS asked the court to order Mr Emefiele's arrest for terrorism financing and economic sabotage, among other nefarious acts, in the application ex-parte, an action filed to exclude its defendant.
However, Justice John Tsoho stated that the SSS application lacked sufficient evidence and bemoaned the agency's failure to take him into confidence.
"It appears that the applicant intends to use the court as a cover for an irregular procedure," the judge ruled on December 13.
Mr Tsoho, on the other hand, stated that the SSS could still accept Mr Emefiele as part of its mandate as a federal law enforcement agency. While in office, the CBN governor does not have constitutional immunity from arrest or prosecution.
According to CBN officials, Mr Emefiele has not been seen at work since he joined other top Nigerian officials in accompanying President Muhammadu Buhari to Washington D.C. for a series of political and business engagements beginning December 11. Mr. Buhari returned to Abuja shortly before 5:00 a.m. on December 18, but Mr. Emefiele has remained hidden.
Officers suspected Mr Emefiele was not in Nigeria and may have remained abroad to avoid arrest. But the president will ultimately decide how long Mr Emefiele can remain in hiding or avoid entering Nigeria while running the central bank.
Justice Tsoho stated that he considered the economic implications before denying the SSS's request to arrest Mr Emefiele, but analysts said it was possible that the allegations' widespread public exposure was already having a negative impact on the economy — without specifying how steep at this point.
A spokesman for the Central Bank of Nigeria declined to comment on Mr Emefiele's whereabouts. The White House has made no statement on the matter.
Civic groups have backed the CBN governor, with many saying he is the latest victim of power play ahead of the February elections.
Mr Emefiele ran for the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress earlier this year, but backed down after being told he needed to step down from office before engaging in open partisan politics.
He also recently issued a contentious directive limiting bank account withdrawals to N100,000 ($130) per week. Economists slammed the policy as senseless and excessive, warning that it would quickly exacerbate the country's dire economic conditions. However, central bank officials said the move was intended to suffocate ongoing efforts by politicians to store cash that would be used to bribe voters at the polls.
Previously, the governor had announced a sudden redesign of naira notes, rendering any previously stockpiled banknotes ineligible for election use.
Supporters said the moves made Mr Emefiele a target for some corrupt politicians, with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party blaming the ruling All Progressives Congress' presidential candidate Bola Tinubu. The SSS has a history of being used to settle political scores, including regime opponents' assassination.
The contentious policy was reversed earlier this week, but it was unclear whether Mr Emefiele did so to appease the SSS.
According to an SSS official, there are internal concerns that the agency is becoming too politicised, to the point of distracting career officers who want to focus solely on their national security assignments.
"At this point, we are very concerned," the agent stated. "We don't know what Emefiele did, and no one is telling us; all we have to do is bring him in for questioning."
"That is too political for us, and I am not the only one here who is concerned," the officer continued.
The SSS's spokesman said he was not immediately available to discuss Mr Emefiele's case.
(Peoples Gazette)