By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS) has denied the arrest of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, dismissing publications in some news outlets as “fake and “misleading”.
The embattled CBN governor has been in a longstanding battle with the DSS over alleged terrorism financing, an allegation Emefiele has denied.
The DSS had earlier sought a court order to arrest Emefiele who has been out of the country for his annual leave.
However, the FCT High Court had in December 2022 barred the secret service from arresting, inviting, or detaining Emefiele.
The DSS through its spokesperson, Peter Afunanya said its operatives never invaded the apex bank the effect the arrest of the governor contrary to rumours.
“The attention of the Department of State Services (DSS) has been drawn to the false news making the round that its operatives invaded the Central Bank of Nigeria and arrested its Governor, today 16/1/23. This is fake news and quite misleading”, the service said in a statement.
The National Assembly had earlier extended invitation to the CBN governor during his medical vacation overseas, but a top official of the bank instead appeared on the governor’s behalf.
The Parliament had sought answers regarding the mode of circulation of the redesigned local currency note, the Naira.
Divergent reactions have trailed the circulation of the note as many Nigerians say they have not had access to it, even as the deadline of Jan. 31 approaches to mop up the old notes and commence the full use of the 1000, 500, and 200 Naira notes recently redesigned.
ATMs across the country still dispense the old notes, raising concerns on whether the Jan. 31 deadline to end the circulation of the new notes is achievable.
Following a public outcry, the CBN reversed its withdrawal limit placed at 100,000 Naira per week on individual accounts and 500,000 Naira per week on corporate account.
It increased both to 500,000 and 5 million Naira respectively. The political actors have alleged that the decision was targeted at them as the country heads to major elections in coming weeks.
