During a thanksgiving service in Rivers state, Senate President Godswill Akpabio stated that there are so many allegations against Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), that the federal government is unsure about which charges to pursue against him.
Akpabio attributed the prevailing economic hardship in the country to policies and actions taken in the past, without specifying who was responsible.
He acknowledged the challenges faced by Nigerians and urged patience, promising that the current administration would fulfill its campaign promises.
Akpabio emphasized the need for patience in addressing the deep-seated issues that have accumulated over many years, recognizing that solving them would take time.
“So the kind of debt and the economic mess that we are in… and lots of people do not understand,” Akpabio said.
“I remember President Obama saying you cannot know Washington until you get to Washington. So by the time we went in to look at the economic situation of the country, it was terrible.
“So you know that the former governor of central bank, we don’t even know what to charge him with.
“Whether to charge him for putting foam on top of a pail, or to charge him for illegal possession of firearms, or to charge him for printing notes without income. I don’t know what we’re going to charge him with.
“But what we know is that yes, there is hunger today because of the kind of policies and actions that they took and we recognise that, and I think every political party should recognise that there is hunger and we’re battling to ensure that Nigerians can sleep with their eyes closed.
“There is insecurity. We’re battling to ensure Nigerians can eat three square meals a day.
“But rest assured that we campaigned for this job, we campaigned and danced around the country. We will not let you down.
“We will get to the bottom of it. All we need is patience. The rot that has happened in Nigeria for so many years, for almost 60 years, cannot be solved in six months. So what we need is patience… patience from all quarters.”
The event, held in Rivers state, was attended by several dignitaries, including Minister of Works Dave Umahi and Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly Martin Amaewhule.
Background:
Emefiele was suspended by President Bola Tinubu in June 2023, and later arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) on allegations including illegal possession of firearms.
He was initially arraigned on a two-count charge but later faced multiple charges, including procurement fraud and conspiracy to commit forgery.
After spending over 150 days in detention, Emefiele was granted bail and released in November. The federal government later amended the charges against him, increasing the counts to 20, including allegations of breach of trust and forgery.
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