Terrorism financing allegation: Sack Emefiele now to pave way for investigation, Arewa group tells Buhari

The Amalgamated Arewa Youth Groups based in the Northern part of the country has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to seize the opportunity of his new year broadcast to announce sack of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.

The call is at the backdrop of allegation that Emefiele was involved in terrorism financing which the Department of State Service has slight the leave of Court to arrest him for investigation which the Court declined.

In a statement on Saturday by Comrade Victor Duniya, the Publicity Secretary of Amalgamated Arewa Youth Groups which was sent to CAPITAL POST in Abuja, said the arrest and investigation of the Apex bank boss would serve the interest of the country and will clear the slur that has been cast on the nation.

According to the group, which comprise of 225 socio-cultural and socio-economic groups with interest in advancing the cause of the North in the Nigeria union, said, series of allegations of corruption against Emefiele and members of his team should be investigated for posterity sake.

The statement said: “As the incumbent governor of our apex bank, he has been using his privileged position to cover up those charges.

“It’s important to beam our transparency light into some of these allegations for the benefit of Nigerians who may not be aware of them.”

The group reminded President Buhari that an incumbent Federal lawmaker from Jigawa State, Honourable Muhammadu Kazaure, who is the Secretary of the Presidential Committee on Reconciliation and Recovery of Stamp Duties Revenue has revealed that, “N89 trillion from stamp duties has been misappropriated by the Central Bank of Nigeria and some Commercial Banks.

“The allegation that we believe needs unfettered investigation which can only be achieved when the CBN Governor steps aside.”

“The Department of State Security Service recently approached the Federal High Court through an ex parte motion to seek an order mandating it to detain and interrogate Mr. Godwin Emefiele, over the link to the financing of terrorism and corruption of national security.”

The group claimed that Emefiele has abandoned his job in guise of medical attention and was seeking refuge abroad.

The statement continued: “In an audio conversation obtained exclusively by Sahara Reporters and confirmed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, featuring the governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele, deputy governor, Edward Lametek Adamu, Director of Finance, Dayo M. Arowosegbe and special adviser to the CBN governor, Emmanuel Ukeje. They were overheard looking for ways to cover up the missing 500bn which went awry in a failed Dubai Investment.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele; the President of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Prof. Benedict Oramah; among others are currently under investigation over the $300million the pan-African multilateral financial institution gave to Titan Trust Bank Limited to acquire 93.4 percent stake in the Union Bank of Nigeria Plc.

“Isn’t it magical that Titan Trust Bank, a small bank with only two bank branches in Lagos swallowed up Union Bank, a 104-year-old bank, in a transaction valued in the region of over One billion US dollars?

“The bank is currently estimated to be worth N3 trillion Naira. Its largest share is linked to Emefiele.

“Nigerians will recall that a few days back, President Muhammadu Buhari fired the Managing Director of the Nigerian Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Aliyu Abdulhameed, over fraud allegations.

“It is on record that the CBN Governor is the Chairman of the microfinance bank. It is either the fraud was committed with his consent or he is grossly incompetent not to have detected the level of fraud that took place in the bank.

“It is in the public domain, that officials of the EFCC grilled top directors of the Central Bank over their roles in the N2 billion loan given to the National President of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN), Anime Achimugu.

“Since the loan issue was not discussed in the CBN board meeting, it is considered to be illegal. The CBN has questions to answer here”, the statement added.