I have always held the position that the suspended CBN governor should not have been appointed to that position in the first place because he does not possess the requisite qualifications for such a sensitive and important position. The position of the CBN governor requires a monetary economist and not a banking professional as Mr Emefiele.

Emefiele, as the CBN governor did not know the difference between the MONETARY POLICY AND THE FISCAL POLICY. Here was a CBN governor who was dabbling into fiscal policy matter as if they were his responsibilities and facilitating a sleaze never seen in the history of economic management in Nigeria. The Anchor Borrowers Program and similar initiatives were some of the purely fiscal policy matters which the CBN under Mr Emefiele dabbled into to feed the corrupt appetite of the former president and his henchmen. Appointing Godwin Emefiele to that position was wrong but we have to be sensitive to the ripples of suspending and detaining him as is currently the case.

Our country operates a Constitutional Democracy anchored on the RULE OF LAW. Government should be careful about breaching the FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS of Mr Emefiele through his continued detention. Nigerians are not impressed with the DSS obtaining a court order to continue detaining him. He should be treated as decently as possible and in accordance with the laws. The whole world is watching and the NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF ANY MALTREATMENT AND HUMILIATION METED TO HIM IS BETTER IMAGINED. While I do not subscribe to somebody like Mr Emefiele being the CBN governor which he shouldn’t be in the first place but the fact and law of Nigeria recognized him as our CBN governor and whatever treatment is meted to him reverberates across the world, so the whole world is watching.

Nigeria is not an ISLAND. The DSS should not in their over zealousness put the country in bad light. Mr Emefiele is still the CBN governor of Nigeria and not an ordinary person and therefore deserves all privileges and protocols due to his position. If Mr Emefiele is being investigated, it should be on crimes committed and not on trumped up charges just to justify his continued incarceration. It is unfortunate that our investigators embark on wide goose chases often leaving out substantial issues just to achieve random ends. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It takes two to tango and Mr Emefiele mostly acted on somebody’s instructions. In most cases, it is somebody he dared not disobey. WHO WAS THAT ? Mr Emefiele was deeply involved the criminal behaviors which brought Nigeria’s economy to its knees and fueled inflation but he never acted alone. WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?

The government actions in the manner he is being treated should not send negative signals to people outside Nigeria especially development partners and foreign investors. What is the need of detaining him in the DSS custody for about four weeks? Can’t he placed under HOUSE ARREST and be made to be reporting to the DSS office daily for interrogation as the case requires? WHY MUST HE BE DETAINED IN THE DSS CELL? Mr Emefiele worked in cohort with the Deputy Governors who should not be treated as Saints.

While falling short of advocating for a TABULA RASA, I strongly believe that majority of the Deputy Governors are neck deep in the morass. There is need to SIFT THE WHEAT FROM THE WEEDS!!! What is happening now is brash and in the absence of a holistic and equal treatment to all alleged corrupt entities, it is difficult to rule out personal vendetta in the whole exercise. The CBN under the suspended governor was corrupt but equally corrupt are numerous entities in the last administration. If this government is fighting corruption then it must do so frontally and not appear to be selective. If they are only the CBN and EFCC that this administration finds culpable in this saga, then something is wrong. As perception can most times be taken as reality, the question is; how would the world perceive the current administration for apparently being in a rush to suspend and detain the CBN governor and the Chairman of EFCC of all those suspected to be corrupt? We should be mindful and sensitive to how others perceive our actions.

We appear not to have learned any lesson from the fate of the defunct NSO under Mr Rafindadi. The penchant of the DSS to detain anybody who fell out with the government of the day is becoming worrisome. The DSS is an AGENCY OF THE STATE but it appears to be hostile to citizens making THE FEAR OF THE DSS TO BE THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM. This should not be so!!! The agency which is an important arm of the SECURITY ARCHITECTURE of the country should be mindful of its STATUTORY MANDATE AS ENUNCIATED IN THE ENABLING ACT. I am sure that the STATUTORY MANDATES OF THE POLICE, THE EFCC, ICPC AND DSS do not OVERLAP as to bring about any confusion in their various operations. Each agency is unique on its own and I do not see the need for this confusion.

President Bola Tinubu asked the security agencies to cooperate with each other and not work at cross purposes and I do hope that what is happening between the EFCC AND DSS is not an extension of the age long crisis of confidence or superiority contest between the two. This is harmful for inter-agency collaboration and effectiveness. NATIONAL INTERESTS SHOULD ALWAYS SUPERSEDE PERSONAL INTERESTS AND EGOS. It is shameful to imagine SECURITY AGENCIES abandoning their statutory mandates to pursue and victimize CRITIQUES AND OPPONENTS of the government of the day. I believe that the statutory mandates of the security agencies differ from each other, otherwise they should be merged to SAVE GOVERNMENT THEIR HUGE BUDGETARY APPROPRIATION EVERY YEAR. We should bear in mind the ramifications of what THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES entails. The CBN governor should have been quietly EASED OUT AND PLACED UNDER HOUSE ARREST WITHOUT ANY PUBLICITY. THE SPECIAL ADVISER ON MONETARY POLICY AFFAIRS should have been the TEMPORARY DE FACTO CBN governor in spite of the Ag. Deputy CBN governor who may not be competent because of the lack of requisite qualifications. The uncertainty surrounding the position of the CBN governor is not healthy for the economy. The leader should be in control of his emotions and not rush to take actions which may be difficult to reverse.

When I did my MBA degree in the 1980’s at UNILAG, Professor GO Nwankwo (who incidentally was my thesis supervisor), one of our professors then, lectured us on why banks were sensitive to any news that would tarnish their image and lead to a RUN ON the bank. It is in the same light that I want our political leaders to see the negative implications of what is happening in the CBN with the detention of the governor. The CBN is the regulator of the banking system in Nigeria and the eye through which foreign investors see the country’s monetary policy stability, consistency or otherwise.

The impression must not be given that the country is an INVESTMENT HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT in which there is policy instability in the monetary sector. There was pervasive sleaze in the last administration and it is incumbent on the president to recover our stolen monies which runs into TRILLIONS OF NAIRA to ameliorate the huge debt overhang instead of pursuing only policies which inflict pains on the citizenry. I do not think that these policies are bad in themselves but their hastiness and rashness may bring about unintended consequences and put the government in bad light. I believe that the way to go is to recover TRILLIONS OF NAIRA which were looted from the public treasury in the last administration including CRUDE OIL THEFT, SLEAZY SOCIAL INVESTMENT PROGRAMS, PHANTOM SUBSIDY PAYMENTS, ETC.

Talking about the suspended CBN governor, I believe the undue interference of the former presidency is largely to blame for much of the corrupt practices to which the CBN governor was exposed. It is wrong for the president and his powerful allies both inside and outside government to be breathing down the neck of the CBN governor as happened in the last administration forcing the CBN to be directly involved in many suspicious programs which were nothing but avenues to perpetuate sleaze in government. Emefiele was a greedy man who aided and abetted flagrant violation of financial laws and and regulations of the country to facilitate the wanton looting that took place during the last administration while enriching himself in the process. I believe that most of the stealing was not done by the CBN governor himself but by those close to President Buhari who himself pretended publicly that he was not aware of the rot that went on under his nose yet he was the one pulling the strings. Somebody gave the instructions for the CBN to be steadily releasing extra budgetary sums to the Humanitarian Affairs Minister, the mess in the oil sector was superintended on by somebody. It is healthy for the economy if the presidency allows a good distance between it and the CBN.

The CBN is an autonomous body and the presidency should allow it to operate independently. The practice of not holding past leaders accountable for their reckless behaviors in office is responsible for the nefarious attitudes of our political leaders to matters of public trust. While allowances should be made for innocent mistakes, there is nothing wrong in holding leaders accountable to impunity and reckless behaviors. It is not enough to abolish subsidy payments on fuel , it is equally important to recover monies lost to fraudulent subsidy payments and make public examples of the culprits no matter who they are. In effect, the monies which this government requires to diligently execute its programs are with the last administration and should be recovered from its operators. Ex-President Buhari operated like somebody above the laws and issued orders with scant regards to due process and the rules. It would be difficult to work under such a reckless and cavalier dictator without breaking the laws. All probes should begin with him.

The Social Investment Program was a conduit pipe designed to defraud the people and loot the treasury. The Students Loans Act in its present form and design will not achieve its intended purpose and will turn into another avenue for frittering away public funds . How can this program be successfully managed in the face of the present pervasive graduate unemployment? By the way, where is the money for this? The country is heavily indebted both internally and externally and unless looted funds are recovered from officers of the past administration, there will be no money for the students loans.

Godson O. Moneke, a quantity surveyor, economist, sociologist , administrator and sociopolitical advocate wrote from Abuja.