Emefiele did not act without the authorization of the President, don’t make him a scapegoat – Tunde Bakare

Cleric Tunde Bakare has urged the Federal government not to make the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, a scapegoat.

Emefiele has been held in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since his arrest on June 10, just hours after his suspension by President Tinubu.

Emefiele faces charges from the Federal Government related to illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

After being granted bail by the court, the Federal Government filed an application on August 3 to seek leave to appeal against the bail order for the suspended CBN governor.

In response, Emefiele lodged an appeal to prevent the Federal Government from further detaining or prosecuting him, either for the firearms and ammunition charges or any other potential allegations.

Bakare remarked that using the provisions laid out in the CBN Act of 2007, there is a possibility that the former CBN governor had not acted without obtaining presidential authorization.

Bakare made these comments during a State of the Nation broadcast on Sunday, August 13.

“Mr Godwin Emefiele may have made the wrong judgement calls in the management of Nigeria’s monetary policy, but he must not be made a scapegoat. In the provisions of the central bank of Nigeria, CBN Act 2007, there is every possibility that the erstwhile central bank governor did not act without presidential authorisation.

 “If Emefiele is found liable for any crime, by all means, he should be prosecuted. However, considering the dynamics of the pre-election environment and the then-candidate Bola Tinubu’s public allegation that the naira redesign policy was targeted at him, the optics of the president targeting Emefiele for prosecution after winning the election and being sworn in as the president could be interpreted as a form of vendetta far beneath such a distinguished office,” Bakare said.

“Considering the claims of the DSS that its actions were in reaction to order from above, handling on Emefiele case has sent a signal to the world that the current president’s disposition to the war against corruption is primarily motivated by the clampdown on the perceived political adversaries, while various other enemies of Nigeria remain untouched,” he added