ABUJA, Nigeria – Femi Falana, a prominent human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has provided advice to the Department of State Services, DSS, on the appropriate handling of the case involving the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele.
Falana’s advice aims to prevent the case from being mismanaged.
In a statement released on Sunday, June 11, 2023, Falana urged the secret police to prosecute Emefiele for alleged terrorism financing, a crime within their jurisdiction, and then turn him over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for prosecution on suspected charges of money laundering and other graft allegations.
President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele as the CBN chief on Friday, with the bank’s Deputy Governor of Operations, Folashodun Shonubi, taking over the role in an acting capacity.
The DSS confirmed Emefiele’s custody on Saturday, June 10, 2023.
Falana advised the DSS not to bungle the case against the suspended CBN chief by attempting to prosecute him for money laundering and economic crimes, crimes which fall under the jurisdiction of the EFCC.
Falana drew attention to the ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of Dr. Bukola Saraki v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2018), which established that the EFCC lacks the power to investigate and prosecute breaches of the provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.
Falana emphasized that, in line with this ruling, the DSS lacks the power to investigate and prosecute Emefiele for allegations of money laundering and other economic crimes.
After investigating Emefiele for alleged terrorism financing, Falana advises that the DSS should transfer him to the EFCC for investigation into allegations of money laundering and other related offences.
