. . . The Emefiele angle

More facts have emerged on the arrest and detention of Dr Kingsley Obiora, the Deputy Governor in-charge of Economic Policy at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

A source close to the Department of State Service (DSS) told News Express on Friday afternoon that that Dr. Obiora was arrested as part of efforts by the Special Investigations Panel (SIP) set up by President Bola Tinubu to get incriminating information on suspended and detained Governor of CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele.

The source, however, clarified that Dr. Obiora was not arrested by the DSS but by the SIP charged with investigating the tenure of Emefiele, who remains detained despite court order that he be released on bail.

Corroborating this, an exclusive report by THEWILL said that the SIP has been “mounting pressure” on Dr. Obiora, who has been detained since Tuesday, “to stand as witness against the suspended bank chief.”

It added that the team of investigators, who are housed inside the premises of the DSS in Abuja, “are pressuring him for information on the activities of Mr Emefiele.”

“Dr Obiora is a key figure in the CBN by virtue of his role as head of economic policy and a previous adviser. He has had very serious policy disagreements with Emefiele and senior executives of the CBN know this. What most people do not realise is that they have been at loggerheads for over two years. Their relationship has been very, very frosty and have only managed to be professional colleagues in the past few months owing to these disagreements”, THEWILL quoted a top official of the bank as saying anonymously.

The paper added: “The Mr Jim Obazee-led special panel, which has been questioning the Deputy Governors of the Central Bank, as well as other senior officials of the bank, has been pressuring a frustrated Obiora to be star witness in the investigation and according to sources, he has been very cooperative, but they are insisting that he knows more than he is telling them about Mr Emefiele’s tenure.”

“Let us be clear. No one is accusing Dr Obiora of fraud or theft. Dr Obiora like other Deputy Governors have been questioned severally by the panel before his detention. They, however, do not believe that he has told them everything he knows. They are forcing him to admit to things he has no direct knowledge of nor part of the decision making process. This is where there is an issue and it has been quite frustrating for the respected economist, who joined the apex bank from the respected IMF”, a family source reportedly told THEWILL.

The CBN is yet to comment on the latest development.

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