A journalist, writer, former presidential spokesman and a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of exhibiting military dictatorship by the recent arrest and indefinite detention of the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and the suspended Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, AbdulRasheed Bawa.
Mr. Adeniyi made the remarks in his weekly “The Verdict” article published on Thursday.
Emefiele and Bawa, it could be recalled, were suspended by President Tinubu two weeks after assuming power, and shortly thereafter were arrested by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS).
Both has remained in detention sine their arrest on June 10, 2023, and June 14, 2023, respectively.
In the article, Adeniyi noted that “Emefiele took a very big gamble last year by seeking the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) while still in office”.
He also recalled how he raised the stakes of the gamble even higher with the “Naira redesign policy that was either not well thought-out or done with malicious intent”.
According to the author, Bawa on the other hand, became an enabler in what became a Naira confiscation policy, telling Nigerians at a point that “with this redesigning, dollar may massively fall, who knows, probably to N200.”
Going down memory lane, Adeniyi further recalled, in 2014, the controversy that trailed a similar suspension of Emefiele’s predecessor, Khalifa Muhammadu Sanusi II by President Goodluck Jonathan.
“Though I saw no justification for the suspension, I argued for the powers of a president, which Sanusi challenged at the time,” he wrote.
Whereby he stated that he has no problem with the suspension of Emefiele given the foregoing, “arresting and keeping him and Bawa incarcerated indefinitely is the hallmark of military dictatorship”.
Adeniyi wrote: “I have no problem with the suspension of Emefiele “sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.”
“But arresting and keeping him and Bawa incarcerated indefinitely is the hallmark of military dictatorship.
“Under democracy and the rule of law, accused persons are presumed innocent until evidence is adduced in a court of law to secure conviction.
“Whatever the allegations against Emefiele, detaining him and subjecting him to street gossip and media trial without the ability to defend himself is unfair and illegal. The same goes for Bawa.”
He noted that the Emefiele saga began, not with the current administration but during the dysfunctional government of President Buhari.
Explaining why DSS was after Emefiele, he referenced an affidavit deposed to before the Federal High Court last December, by Mr Umar Salihu, an official of the DSS.
According to the affidavit, “there is reasonable suspicion that the respondent (Emefiele) was involved in terrorism financing, aiding and abetting acts of terrorism, economic crimes of national security dimension and undermining the security of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Salihu said the DSS made the application so that Emefiele could be detained for 60 days, “pending the conclusion of ongoing investigation …”
“Although no details were provided, the main kernel of the allegations surrounded Emefiele’s presidential ambition for which he was said to have procured vehicles and disbursed funds.
“These resources, the DSS alleged, were “being channelled into funding of Unknown Gunmen, Eastern Security Network (ESN) and elements of IPOB, a proscribed organisation”,” Adeniyi wrote.
He continued: “No matter the offence for which a citizen may be charged, revenge is not the same thing as justice and state institutions should not be seen to be promoting such perversion.
“President Tinubu has spent the better part of his political career mouthing defence of fundamental freedoms for citizens. It would be tragic for the government he now heads to exhibit traits antithetical to those ideals.
“He (Tinubu) was at the forefront as a NADECO man to chastise military governments for disobeying court orders.
“Now that power is in his hand, we will see whether he, himself will obey court orders,” Adeniyi quoted a former Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) President, Joseph Daudu, SAN, as saying last Thursday.
According to him, his government needs all the support it can get at this most vulnerable period and not creating animosity.
“Emefiele may deserve a comeuppance for the choices he made as CBN Governor and for getting so caried away as to imagine he could use his office to secure Nigeria’s presidency through the backdoor…
“What we are dealing with in this unfortunate saga is the abuse of due process of the law, an affront on the fundamental rights of citizens, and authoritarian impulses by a critical state institution.
“No matter how ‘weighty’ the allegations against them, and regardless of how we view their stewardship, Emefiele and Bawa deserve their day in court or be released from detention!” Adeniyi concluded. Read more.
—
