Emefiele In The Eye Of The Storm

Adeboye 'Fall My Hand'

CHARLES OKOH

Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank Governor, would go down in Nigerian history as the most controversial occupant of that office. And this is for no reason other than the fact that like a behemoth, Emefiele is virtually in control of all government fiscal and monetary policies, under the President Muhammadu Buhari government.

And so for someone courted at various times by the powerful to provide one need or the other, he will be in one breath serenaded as a beautiful bride and in the other breath hunted by those who seem not favoured by his position at any given time.

Emefiele assumed the status of Mr. Fix It or the solution provider. He has gone severally against the standard practice or norms just so that he can be seen to be the good man, in a government where observing rules and best practices are antithetical to its grundnorm.

The fate that almost befell Emefiele, last week when a surreptitious plan to kick him out of office by some desperate politicians, was foiled by the court, seems quite similar to the plot which saw former Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen out during the buildup to the last elections in 2019.

The floundering All Progressives Congress (APC), realizing that with Onnoghen in the saddle, its plot to compromise the general election may not sail through; did everything that had to be done to kick him out. Unlike Onnoghen who was betrayed by his own constituency, Emefiele survived, at least for now.

The Federal High Court in Abuja threw out a request by the Department of State Services (DSS) to order the arrest of Emefiele.

The secret police had filed an ex parte application for an order for the arrest of the CBN governor over alleged “acts of financing terrorism, fraudulent activities and economic crimes of national security dimension.”

The DSS filed the application marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2255/2022 at the court on 7 December, suing Mr Emefiele as the sole respondent in the ex parte application.

But the judge, John Tsoho, who is the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, in a ruling on 9 December, rejected the application on the grounds that the secret police failed to provide sufficient evidence to warrant the issuance of an arrest warrant against Mr Emefiele.

The judge said the depositions in the affidavit filed by the DSS in support of its application “purport that preliminary investigation has revealed various acts of terrorism financing, fraudulent activities perpetrated by the respondent and his involvement in economic crimes of national security dimension.”

But rejecting the application, the judge said: “These are no doubt grave allegations, but which the applicant has not presented any concrete evidence to support.”

He also said the DSS failed to clearly identify the person against whom the arrest warrant was sought. He said it remained speculation whether the person was the same Godwin Emefiele serving as the CBN governor.

If the targeted person was the incumbent CBN governor, the judge said there was the need to obtain the approval of his boss, presumably referring to President Muhammadu Buhari, for his arrest given the crucial roles he plays in driving the economy.

The judiciary must be alive to its responsibility to save this nation from this free fall and descent to a state of anarchy and total breakdown of law order. Perhaps, the DSS should have also accused him of plot to unseat the president as part of his alleged offence.

Onnoghen was sacked and disgraced by the very constituency he headed with a script that was plotted and perfectly executed by the Code of Conduct Tribunal that only comes alive when there is a plot to get at an opponent of the ruling party.

The difference between the successfully executed Onnoghen’s plot and the failed attempt against Emefiele, was the role played by the judiciary.

Prior to this plot against Emefiele, he was still struggling to shake off the effect and pressure from politicians following his redesign of some denominations of the currency and the now reversed daily/weekly withdrawal limits.

The bank had on December 6 announced a new policy limiting over-the-counter cash withdrawals by individuals and corporate entities to N100, 000 and N500, 000, respectively, per week.

Those who argued that these new policies by the CBN governor was not unconnected with the plan by the federal government to check the influence of money during the next general elections, may seem to have a point when you consider the military dispatch with which the legislators summoned the CBN governor to appear before them. They were also alleged to have sought to get waivers for election spending.

Emefiele was billed to appear before the House on Tuesday, December 20, following his failure to honour the earlier summons by the lawmakers on December 15, but the CBN governor also said he was still in the United States for an official engagement.

Again, Emefiele, on Wednesday last week, told the House of Representatives he would not be able to appear before it on Thursday due to a health challenge.

Emefiele took the political stage by storm with a failed plot to run for the position of the president during the last APC party primary while still holding office as the Central Bank Governor. This, for a lot of Nigerians, amounted to taking impunity to a new height.

While some hailed the cashless policy of the CBN, not a few also believed that the timing was wrong and the urgency with which the CBN planned to implement it across the nation at the same time left much to be desired.

I personally do not have any problem with the planned introduction of a cashless economy, because this would go a long way in addressing problems associated with carrying so much cash around or having them in our homes.

The DSS, is not above the law and must be made to realise that. Perhaps, the judiciary is now beginning to appreciate the magnitude and significance of that arm of government. An independent judiciary remains the key to a strong and virile democracy.

For Emefiele, the lesson is that, like Onnoghen, the very same people he so did all to please are the same people now baying for his blood.

Today, Justice Tsoho is being praised for standing for what is right and constitutional, the lesson for the judiciary is that they remain the biggest problem of the country. They have failed the nation and continued to pander to the wishes of political office holders. The result being that when these politicians want to dispense off their services, they do not hesitate to sacrifice them for their personal interest.

Let it be known that the man who rides a tiger risks ending up in its belly. The judiciary must rise up and save the nation, so that the future generation would have them to thank for it.

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