SDP to Emefiele – Surrender for Investigation If You Have Nothing To Hide
……Unveils Presidential Campaign Council, Vows To Spring Surprises At Polls
POLITICS DIGEST- The National leadership of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, on Tuesday urged the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele to immediately submit himself for investigation by Security Agencies if haa nothing to hide from the public rather sponsoring faceless groups to shield him from being Investigation.
The National Chairman of the Party, Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam stated this while fielding questions from news men shortly after the Party unvieled its 1121 Executive Committee of National Campaign Council for the forthcoming General Elections
Alhaji Gabam who said that he was not against a Court judgement barring the Operatives of the Department of the State Services, DSS, from arresting and detaining the the CBN, pointed out since Emefiele did not covered by immunity he should surrender himself for inveseigation based on the level of the various allegtions being levelled against him and sensitive position he is holding in the country
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had stopped an application by the Department of State Services to arrest and detain the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, over allegations bothering on “acts of financing terrorism, fraudulent activities and economic crimes of national security dimension.”
The DSS had reportedly filed a suit on December 7, 2022, seeking to arrest the CBN governor. Justice J.T Tsoho gave the ruling declining to grant the application for the governor’s arrest on December 9, 2022.
The suit, with reference number FHC/Abj/CS/2255/2022, had State Security Services as the applicant.
Refusing to grant the DSS request, the judge said, “In the light of the foregoing reasons, I decline to grant this application ex parte.
“If the applicant believes that the evidence available to it so far is sufficient, then it can as well arrest and detain the applicant, even without the order of the court.
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“If however, the applicant desires to still pursue this application, then it should place the respondent on notice considering the sensitive public office that he occupies.”
“The honourable judge also wondered why the name of the respondent was given simply as ‘Godwin Emefiele’ without a material disclosure that he is the same person as the CBN governor, a highly ranking public official who occupies an extremely sensitive position,”.
The court said that such an application should have been accompanied by presidential approval because of the grave implications for the Nigerian economy if the CBN governor is arrested and detained.
There are suggestions that the bid to arrest Emefiele might be political given the impact the redesign of the naira and limit on cash withdrawals might have on vote-buying in the 2023 elections.
However, Alhaji Gabam pointed out that there was nothing stop the CBN from being investigated even when State Governors with immunity were being investigated
” This man should not tell us that he is above the law of the land, this was a man as a sitting Governor of the CBN, he purchased a form to become the President of the country under the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Let him be investigated of all the allegtions being levelled against him, if it were to be a civilised society, he will be on that seat today”
” Alot of issues were raised, there hunger and poverty in the land, if the Nation is to move forward, we have to begin to do things right, we can not continue to do things in the old one way and expect a good result, when the SDP’takes over power next year things will change for the best
while promising that the Party would spring surprises at the forthcoming General Elections, Alhaji Gabam urges Nigerians not to lose hope in greatness of the nation as the country would rise again under the SDP’
Unveiling the National Campaign Council headed by Alhaji Gabam, the Party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ambassador Rufus Aiyenigba disclosed thatt the novel and innovative complementing NCC by the Party was to ensure maximizing productive engagement of the electorates in order to optimize the chances of the Party at the polls.
The Party’s NPS who said that serious campaigns had been going on underground all over the country pointed out that Party’s campaigns were strategic and different from those renting crowd to deceive Nigerians of being popular amogst the electorates.
