Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says Godwin Emefiele, its governor, has resumed duty after his annual vacation abroad.
Confirming the development in a statement, Osita Nwanisobi, director, corporate communications, CBN, said Emefiele resumed on Monday.
The CBN boss was said to have returned to the country ahead of the bank’s monetary policy committee meeting slated for next week.
“The governor resumed with renewed vigour to perform his duty ahead of the first monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting of the year scheduled for January 23 to 24, 2023,” the statement reads.
“Emefiele remains committed to performing the task before him in line with his oath of office and the policy direction of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“While thanking the public for keeping faith with the bank, we urge Nigerians to continue to support the policies of the bank aimed at ensuring a stable financial system and the Nigerian economy in general.”
Emefiele has been the subject a recent investigation by the Department of State Services (DSS) which approached a federal high court in Abuja seeking a warrant to arrest him over alleged terrorism financing.
The court, however, declined the application on the grounds that the secret police did not provide any concrete evidence to substantiate its claims that the governor was involved in terrorism financing and economic crimes.
A federal capital territory (FCT) high court sitting in Maitama later issued an order restraining the DSS from arresting Emefiele.
In a related development, DSS described reports that its operatives invaded CBN to arrest Emefiele as “fake news”.
There were reports on Monday across social media platforms that the DSS stormed CBN headquarters to arrest Emefiele over allegations of terrorism financing.
But in a statement issued by Peter Afunanya, DSS spokesperson, the agency debunked the claims.
“The attention of the Department of State Services (DSS) has been drawn to the false news making the round that its operatives invaded the Central Bank of Nigeria and arrested its Governor, today 16/1/23. This is fake news and quite misleading,” the statement reads.
The Cable