More Heads To Roll As Detained CBN Governor, Emefiele Implicates Suspended EFCC Chairman, Bawa In Naira Redesign Scam
The DSS invited Bawa to its headquarters at around 9:02 p.m. on Wednesday night.
The suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, has been named as a co-conspirator in the Naira redesign scam that shook the nation a few months ago by Godwin Emefiele, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The Department of State Services, the nation’s secret police, is holding Emefiele, who is the reason the embattled EFCC chairman was also invited and detained, according to information our correspondent learned on Thursday.
The DSS invited Bawa to its headquarters at around 9:02 p.m. on Wednesday night, News Week Nigeria reports. His interrogation by secret police agents continued after that.
Earlier that day, President Bola Tinubu had placed him on indefinite leave.
Days after Emefiele was detained and flown from Lagos to Abuja for questioning regarding allegations of corruption and abuse of office, Bawa was invited and subjected to a DSS grilling.
Emefiele and Bawa were being questioned about a variety of topics, including the Naira redesign scam, information obtained by News Week Nigeria while they were both being interrogated.
The new N200, N500, and N1,000 notes were unveiled on November 23, 2022, by Emefiele and the then-President Muhammadu Buhari. Emefiele insisted that the older notes would stop being accepted as payment on January 31, 2023.
After the event, Bola Tinubu, the then-presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, was rumoured to be the target of the move, which was pushed by the presidency’s cabal and was intended to prevent Tinubu from winning the election on February 25, 2023. Emefiele emphasised to journalists that the move was not directed at anyone.
Due to the shortage of naira notes and the CBN’s inability to supply them, the policy put Nigerians through unimaginable hardship. Long lines at banks and ATMs as well as a cash crisis were caused by the policy.
The EFCC chairman was held overnight in order to question Emefiele, who is currently cooling his feet in a DSS cell.
A top source revealed that Emefiele, who is working with the DSS, claimed that Bawa was the one who sent a memo to former President Muhammadu Buhari asking for the Naira to be changed in order to prevent money laundering during the 2023 election.
“Bawa confronted him that he (Emefiele) and the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Malami, were the ones that came to him to raise the memo because they suspected Tinubu had warehouses stuffed with naira notes,” the source said.
Following “weighty allegations” of misusing his position against Bawa, Tinubu placed him on indefinite administrative leave on Wednesday. He claimed this would allow for a thorough investigation into his behaviour while in office.
The Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation’s director of information, Willie Bassey, released a statement on this subject on Wednesday.
Due to the dearth of the new Naira notes in February and March, Nigerians experienced severe difficulties with the redesign of the Naira and the cashless policy. Even before former President Buhari disassociated himself from Emefiele’s disobedience to the court order, Emefiele had earlier refused to heed a Supreme Court decision that made the old notes legal tender until December 31.
Emefiele was suspended “sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy,” according to a release from Willie Bassey, the Director of Information for the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume
“Mr Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), who will act as the Central Bank Governor pending the conclusion of the investigation and the reforms,” the press release added.
The DSS tried to arrest Emefiele, but Gen. Lucky Irabor, the Chief of Defence Staff, protected him by providing soldiers to guard his home and workplace, News Week Nigeria had earlier reported this in February.
For the purpose of apprehending and prosecuting Emefiele on charges of fraud and financing terrorism, the DSS had previously stated that it had ramped up its inquiries.
Our heritage reporter had earlier reported in February how Emefiele was charged with funding “unknown gunmen” who terrorised the country’s Southeast in new court documents obtained from the DSS.
Bawa and Emefiele The DSS investigation found that the chief bank governor used funds from his failed 2022 presidential campaign and public funds to finance the organisations.
