New court documents obtained from the State Security Service (SSS) obtained by PREMIUM TIMES have revealed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has been funding “unknown gunmen” terrorising the Southeast region of the country.
The secret police known as the SSS or Department of State Services (DSS) accused Emefiele of funding terrorism, unknown gunmen terrorising the Southeast region, the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its militant wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
DSS investigation revealed that the apex bank governor funded the groups with resources he raised for his failed presidential bid in 2022 and diverted public funds.
It added that the funds and the vehicles Emefiele had planned to use for his presidential campaign were channelled into the funding of “‘Unknown Gunmen’, ESN and elements of IPOB, a proscribed organisation.”
According to the secret police, Emefiele “on several occasions in actions prejudicial to the security of the Nigerian state,” engaged in “criminal conspiracy to divert government resources into suspicious acts of terrorism financing”.
It said the actions of the CBN governor were “meant to subvert and sabotage” President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
SaharaReporters had exclusively reported how the DSS accused Emefiele of sabotaging the economy, financing terrorism and committing other economic crimes.
Top government sources shared with SaharaReporters how the investigation linked Emefiele to a well-known terror financier, whom the apex bank governor had sent funds for onward transfer to controversial Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi.
Gumi is known for hobnobbing with terrorists and bandits and advocating that amnesty should be granted to them.
In 2022, one of Gumi’s associates, Tukur Mamu, was arrested and detained by Interpol at Cairo International Airport in Egypt while awaiting a connecting flight to Saudi Arabia. Upon his return to Nigeria, he was arrested by the DSS over allegations that he was heading to Saudi Arabia to meet with some international terrorists.
Meanwhile, the secret police said their preliminary investigation revealed various acts of terrorism financing, fraudulent activities perpetrated by Emefiele and his involvement in economic crimes of national security dimension including mismanaging the CBN subsidiary, NISRAL, and the central bank’s Anchor Borrowers Programme.
The secret police also accused Emefiele of “fraud, money laundering, round tripping and conferment of financial benefit to self and others.”
The agency sought a court warrant to arrest the CBN governor but Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, refused to grant the application, citing an irregularity in the procedure adopted by the DSS in its application.
In the new court documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, the DSS in its application filed as an ex parte motion, sought court permission to detain Emefiele for 60 days to conclude an ongoing investigation into his alleged crimes.
The application was reportedly supported by an affidavit deposed to by a DSS official, Umar Salihu, who summarised the details of the investigations into the weighty crimes Emefiele allegedly committed.
PREMIUM TIMES quoted the deponent of the affidavit as saying, “There is reasonable suspicion that the respondent (Mr Emefiele) was involved in terrorism financing, aiding and abetting acts of terrorism, economic crimes of national security dimension and for undermining the security of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
According to Salihu, the agency needed to apply to the court “for an order enabling the applicant to detain the respondent for 60 days, pending the conclusion of ongoing investigation …”
The DSS official who also spoke on the need for the court to issue the order, said Emefiele “is a man of means and can easily evade arrest and interfere with ongoing investigation if he is released on bail.”
The documents also revealed that DSS claimed it was on the trail of members of a criminal syndicate of which Emefiele is allegedly a part, saying that “investigation is still ongoing on a wider scale as other members of the syndicate chain need to be identified and arrested to enable successful prosecution,” adding that the CBN governor used proxies from his alleged syndicate “to carry out his illegal economic crimes of national security dimension with potent threat to the country’s security.”
One of the sources who exclusively revealed details about Eemfiele’s case to SaharaReporters in January 2023, said, “How they linked Emefiele with terrorist financing was that he asked a well-known terror financier to help him to send money to Sheikh Gumi. Apparently, Emefiele wanted Gumi to support his presidential bid but Gumi reportedly rejected the money, saying he didn’t have a bank account.
“The money was given to a Gumi’s aide by the terror financier who incidentally, had been on the DSS watchlist.
“When the terror financier was arrested, he refused to disclose the source of the huge amount of money who had asked him to pass it on to Gumi.”
But that is not the full story as Emefiele was also believed to have committed murder to keep the detained terror financier quiet about their dealings as well as his alleged involvement in economic sabotage.
The DSS learnt that the terror financier was being given huge amounts of dollars by Emefiele to sell, thereby killing the Nigerian economy when, as the apex bank governor, he should be saving it.
“The wife and child of the man (terrorist financier) were murdered while he was in DSS detention. He had heard that the man had confessed that he (Emefiele) gave him dollars to sell and then asked him to bribe Gumi for his election.
“They are accusing him of killing his (the terror financier’s) family to scare him from revealing their deal to the DSS while in detention,” another source said.
Background
SaharaReporters had reported how Emefiele nursed presidential ambition and attempted to vie for the office on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
After facing opposition from some quarters including within the CBN, Emefiele approached the Delta State High Court sitting in Kwale, Ndokwa West Local Government Area, Delta State, to get an order restraining the apex bank and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from stopping him from contesting the 2023 presidential election.
He eventually backed down after it was clear that he would have to resign from office to contest the presidential primary election of the ruling party.
A Federal High Court in Maitama, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja also recently issued an order restraining secret police from arresting Emefiele.
This ruling, delivered by Justice M.A. Hassan also applies to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the CBN, who are listed as defendants.
Earlier, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja declined an application filed by the DSS to arrest and detain Emefiele over the grave allegations against him.
In declining the motion ex parte filed by the secret police, Justice J. T. Tsoho, the Chief Judge, said the DSS did not provide any concrete evidence to substantiate its claims that Emefiele was involved in terrorism financing and economic crimes.
Upon Emefiele’s return to Nigeria recently after spending several weeks away, Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Lucky Irabor, deployed military personnel and intelligence officers to ensure that he was not arrested by the DSS.
SaharaReporters earlier reported that the CBN governor headed to his office with massive security, specifically military protection, following his return to the country.
“Apparently the Chief of Defence Staff was the one that aided Emefiele to defy the DSS upon arrival. Irabor deployed the military police and intelligence to ensure Emefiele was not arrested,” a source had told SaharaReporters.
Sources at the CBN told SaharaReporters that the security personnel that accompanied Emefiele to the bank were larger than that of President Buhari.
“Emefiele has returned to Nigeria. He went to the CBN with massive security. He was given military protection. His security is bigger than that of the President,” one of the sources had said in a terse message to SaharaReporters.
