Femi Falana, a senior advocate of
Nigeria (SAN), says the Department of State Services (DSS) should transfer
Godwin Emefiele to the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) for further investigation.
On Friday, President Bola Tinubu
suspended Emefiele and asked him to transfer his responsibilities to Folashodun
Adebisi Shonubi, deputy governor, operations directorate.
On Saturday, the Department of
State Services (DSS) announced that Emefiele was in its custody 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.
In a statement on Sunday, Falana
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”.
He added that Emefiele should, in
turn, be handed over to an agency with the constitutional power to investigate such
a case.
“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,” Falana wrote.
“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!”
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Abeg tell them, let them not spoil this case as Mr saraki's case was dismissed. Mr president Bola Ahmed Tinubu should talk to DSS.
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