Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has advised the Department of State Services (DSS) to transfer the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele to the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation.
President Bola Tinubu ordered Emefiele’s suspension on Friday evening sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy. He was arrested by the DSS on Saturday for “some investigative reasons”.
Emefiele has been on the radar of the DSS since 2022 over alleged terrorism financing. The security agency had sought an arrest warrant from a federal high court — but the application was declined on the grounds that there was no evidence to back the claim.
A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court later issued an order restraining the DSS from arresting Emefiele.
Falana, in a statement on Sunday, advised DSS on how not to “bungle” the case on legal technicalities.
The SAN said the DSS “lacks the power to investigate and prosecute Emefiele in respect of allegations of money laundering and other economic crimes”.
“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!”
