A group under the aegis of Agbor Stakeholders Forum (ASF) has again accused the federal government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of plotting to “hunt down and destroy our son, Mr. Godwin Emefiele by any means possible,” for his activities as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the immediate past president, General Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr. Emefiele, who is also a former Managing Director of Zenith Bank International, hails from Agbor town, Delta State.

The group had earlier, in a statement last month, also appealed to President Tinubu to free Emefiele, who had been in detention up to that point for close to six months without bail, even as they decried what they alleged was “victimization of the former CBN Governor over Buhari’s naira redesign policy.”

In a statement issued yesterday (Monday, January 16, 2024) by Kanene Kachikwu on behalf of the group, ASF said they had been compelled to cry out again in view of “the relentless propaganda and media assault” unleashed on Emefiele by the federal government since he was granted bail a few weeks ago after over six months in detention.

In the statement titled ‘WE PROTEST OPERATION DESTROY EMEFIELE’, Agbor stakeholders recalled that “we, his kinsfolks and stakeholders in his Agbor homestead have had cause to cry out last year after he was detained for over six months without bail,” lamenting that “though he was finally granted bail, we are moved to cry out once again” in view of obvious attempts, in the last couple of weeks, to destroy Emefiele’s person and character in the media.

“We are worried that since the beginning of this administration, one man has been subjected to the investigation of the Department of State Service (DSS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and a Special Financial Investigator, Mr. Jim Obazee,” the ASF agonised, noting that although no charges against Emefiele “have been able to stand in the face of the courts,” he is still haunted and harassed by agents of the government for the simple reason that he discharged his responsibilities creditably and carried out legitimate orders of a sitting president as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Insisting that the former CBN Governor had been unjustifiably harassed and his character impugned, ASF accused the Tinubu Administration of an Emefiele paranoia, lamenting that the famous banker and administrator and “our brother has been charged with over half a dozen offences all of which have failed in different courts.”

“The DSS first accused him of financing terrorism,” ASF recalled, sneering that “after a thorough search of all his residences, all they got was a little gun, more like a toy gun.

“Then the EFCC took over and combed through all his financial records. They went to press that N7.1 trillion was missing.

This was to later turn to N1.2 billion official vehicles procurement irregularity allegedly perpetrated by Emefiele and a female colleague. This too didn’t stand in the court of law.

“Most recently, the EFCC claimed it is probing forex transactions of the CBN spanning the last nine years (2014 – 2023)!

“Here’s a sample of the calumny and propaganda against Emefiele that has been put out in the public for a probe that has not been carried out (according to an EFCC source): ‘The EFCC is investigating over 85 entities, which include companies and individuals…But it should be noted that our investigation is comprehensive; it is deeper and more encompassing and absolutely independent of the CBN investigator, Obazee’s report. The charges against the former CBN governor will most likely be amended as there have been more discoveries from the forex probe.”

ASF gave the insider information from the EFCC source as evidence of persecution of Emefielet by the federal government, a clear indication that most of the probes were orchestrated by the FG largely to witch-hunt Mr. Emefiele.

The group Issued three posers to back up their persecution claim against the federal government, namely:

1) Does the EFCC have the capacity and personnel to probe nine years of daily forex transactions by the CBN, if this is not just an attempt to shop for some evidence against Mr. Emefiele?

2) Why is the EFCC probe different from that of the Special Investigator, Mr. Obazee?

3) Obazee told the world in his leaked report that Emefiele had interests in three banks necessitating the takeover of the banks. However, when the banks’ managements were changed a few days ago, different reasons were adduced. According to the CBN, the three banks (Union, Keystone and Polaris banks) were axed for “regulatory noncompliance, corporate governance failures, disregard of the conditions under which their licences were granted and involvement in activities that pose a threat to financial stability, among others.

Declared ASF: “In all of this, the CBN didn’t give specific details of what and what constituted, on the part of the affected banks, infringement and noncompliance.

“Our point, even our grouse, is, therefore, that these probes, investigations and the reports therefrom are all politically motivated attempts to destroy our brother for his alleged role in former President Buhari’s naira redesign policy.

“We make bold to say that all these investigations would eventually turn out in favour of Mr. Emefiele as they have shown him as a very decent man who can still stand after investigations by the DSS, EFCC and a Special Investigator, with no serious offence brought against him.”

The group commended Emefiele for his demonstration of integrity in the conduct of his official duties as Governor of the CBN, pointing out that only a government official “like our brother, Mr. Godwin I. Emefiele, can survive this kind of scrutiny and still stand tall in society, without being in jail already.”

“In the light of this, we, therefore, consider the pursuit of Mr. Godwin Emefiele, a successful and thoroughbred banker, a political vendetta and witch-hunt, an attempt to destroy him. We once again call on President Tinubu to call off this charade and let an innocent man be,” Agbor Stakeholders Forum (ASF) surmised.

Update news