Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana SAN has advised the Department of State Services (DSS) to hand over Godwin Emefiele to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to avoid bundling the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor’s case on technicalities.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria said this in a statement released a day after the secret police confirmed having Emefiele in custody for “some investigative reasons”.
President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele on Friday. He was picked up by the DSS the next day.
Recall that the DSS had on December 7, 2022, in an exparte application with reference no: FHC/ABJ/CS/2255/2022, sought a court order to arrest the CBN governor, on the grounds of financing terrorism, fraudulent activities and economic crimes of national security dimension.
However, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho refused to grant the DSS’s application.
In his December 13, 2022, ruling, Justice Tsoho said the secret police failed to prove its claim against the CBN governor.
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In his Sunday statement, Falana warned that the DSS risked bungling the case on legal technicalities.
According to the senior lawyer, the DSS “lacks the power to investigate and prosecute Emefiele in respect of allegations of money laundering and other economic crimes”.
He said that the suspended CBN governor should therefore be handed over to the agency with the legal power to investigate and prosecute him in respect of allegations of money laundering and other economic crimes.
“A few months ago, the State Security Service (SSS) levelled grave allegations of terrorism financing, money laundering, and other economic crimes against Mr Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). At the material time, the attempt by the SSS to arrest, investigate, and prosecute Mr Emefiele was frustrated by the erstwhile Buhari administration.
“However, following the suspension of Mr Emefiele as the Governor of the CBN by President Bola Tinubu, the SSS quizzed him in Lagos and flew him to Abuja yesterday. According to media reports, the investigation of the suspect by the SSS has commenced. Even though the SSS, which initially denied the arrest, has since turned around to admit that Mr Emefiele is in its custody.
“In the case of Dr Bukola Saraki v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2018) 16 NWLR (pt. 1646) 433-434, the supreme court ruled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission lacks the vires to investigate and prosecute the appellant for the breach of the provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act. It was for that principal reason that Senator Saraki was freed by the apex court.
“In line with the principle of law enunciated by the apex court in Saraki’s case, the SSS lacks the power to investigate and prosecute Mr Emefiele in respect of allegations of money laundering and other economic crimes. Therefore, after investigating the alleged involvement of Mr Emefiele in terrorism financing, the SSS should transfer him to the EFCC for the purpose of investigating the allegations of money laundering and allied offences. Otherwise, the investigation of the case will be bungled by the SSS!” Falana said.