DSS confirms suspended CBN Governor Emefiele in custody for investigation

The Department of State Services (DSS) has confirmed that Mr Godwin Emefiele, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is now in its custody for investigation.

Moments after his suspension was made public on the night of Friday, June 9, 2023, reports started flying around claiming that the DSS had swooped in on the suspended CBN governor.

However, a terse message posted on the service’s Twitter page on Saturday morning debunked the claim saying, “Currently, Emefiele is not with the DSS.”

But, in a subsequent statement issued by the Public Relations Officer (PRO), Peter Afunanya, the DSS said it’s holding Emefiele in its custody for some investigative reasons.

“The Department of State Services (DSS) hereby confirms that Mr Godwin Emefiele, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is now in its custody for some investigative reasons.

“The public, particularly the Media, is enjoined to apply utmost caution in the reportage and narratives concerning this,” the statement read.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu suspended Emefiele from office with immediate effect on Friday night. The decision was conveyed in a statement issued by the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Willie Bassey.

Bassey explained that Emefiele was suspended as the CBN governor because of an ongoing investigation as well as a planned reform of the financial sector.

Following his suspension, he was directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, who will act as the CBN governor pending the conclusion of the investigation and the reforms.

Emefiele’s suspension come with no surprises as he had been tipped as a potential casualty of the Tinubu presidency following his controversial naira swap and cashless policy that created negative publicity for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) before the February 25 presidential election.

Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi has since been announced as the acting governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) following the immediate suspension of Godwin Emefiele on the night of Friday, June 10, 2023.

Meanwhile, the statement also disclosed that Emefiele was asked to hand over to his Deputy (Operations Directorate), Shonubi, who will steer the affairs of the apex bank in an acting capacity in the meantime.

His banking career took off at Citibank Nigeria Limited where he functioned as the Head, Treasury Operations between 1990-1993. Three years later, Shonubi joined MBC International Ltd as Deputy General Manager, Banking Operations and IT.

At the nation’s return to democracy in 1999, Shonubi took up the position of Vice-President, Operations and Information Technology at the First City Monument Bank (FCMB), before moving to Ecobank Nigeria Plc, where he served as Executive Director, Operations and Information Technology. He served as well in other capacities in the financial space.

He was appointed the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) from 2012-2018.

Shonubi joined the CBN on October 17, 2018, as Deputy Governor, Operations Directorate.