Former CBN Governor Emefiele Detained by EFCC After DSS Release

The anti-graft agency EFCC has taken into custody Godwin Emefiele, the ex-governor of the CBN, shortly after he was freed by the DSS on Thursday night.

Emefiele, who stepped down as CBN governor in September as part of a plea deal with the federal government, is now being questioned at the EFCC National Headquarters in Jabi, Abuja.

Sources say that the EFCC is investigating Emefiele for alleged wrongdoing during his tenure as the chief of the apex bank. He is also facing a 20-count charge of plotting to commit procurement fraud, among others.

Emefiele was nabbed by the DSS in June after President Bola Tinubu sacked him from office with immediate effect. He was then replaced by Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, the former deputy governor of the operations directorate at the CBN.

He was charged with two counts of illegal possession of firearms at a federal high court in Lagos in July and was released on bail of N20 million. The charge was later dismissed in August after the federal government dropped it.

However, a new 20-count charge was filed against him over an alleged conspiracy to commit procurement fraud, among others. The trial has been delayed twice, and Emefiele was said to have offered a plea bargain agreement with the federal government.