Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele, has been suspended from office with immediate effect by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The President has also ordered immediate probe of the apex bank.
This is contained in a statement by the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Willie Bassey.
Emefiele’s suspension, according to the statement is due to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.
The statement said that Emefiele had been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), who would act as the CBN Governor pending the conclusion of the investigation and the reforms.
The Deputy Director, Operations Directorate, according to CBN listing is Mr Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi.
Meanwhile, Ikengaonline learned that Emefiele had been quizzed late Friday by the operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS.
However, the Spokesman for the DSS, Peter Afunaya, has refused to confirm the arrest.
Recall that Tinubu’s men had claimed that the introduction of the Naira redesign policy of the CBN shortly before the general elections was targeted at Tinubu.
But the apex bank had then maintained it was not targeted at anybody while the then President Muhammadu Buhari admitted it was to control the influence of money on the election.
There were several attempts to arrest Emefiele as Buhari’s administration was winding down but he was shielded by President Buhari.
