…as DSS failed attempt to arrest, detain Emefiele sparks protests
About 20 days to the take-off of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cash withdrawal limit, opposition to the policy announced by the apex bank on 7 December does not look like it is going to abate soon.
From politicians to PoS operators to small business owners, the arguments against the policy which limits weekly cash withdrawals for individuals at N100,000 and for corporate bodies at N500,000 keep piling up.
Last week, state governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) openly expressed their reservations to the policy slated to come into effect 9 January 2023, opting to send a delegation to President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the CBN to review the policy.
The governors hinged their opposition on the effect the policy could have on the rural poor and fears that it might set the masses against the Buhari administration which comes to an end on 29 May 2023.
The two chambers of the National Assembly had earlier asked the CBN to review the policy, citing the danger it portends for the economy and the Nigerian people.
On their part, PoS operators are living in the hopes that the CBN would reverse the cash withdrawal limits policy before the new year.
United under the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), in a petition dated 16 December 2022, the PoS operators asked President Buhari to direct the CBN to suspend the policy to save 1.4 million bank agents from losing their means of livelihood. They also threatened to drag the apex bank to court if the policy was not reversed before the new year.
Abakpa Anthony, president, National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (NUBIFI), said the policy was too harsh and that the CBN should have run a pilot system to see the level of compliance before going full scale.
He further argued that the ATM and PoS withdrawal limits may throw many Nigerians into poverty and render the POS operators jobless.
”When Nigeria is ripe for such policy, Nigerian workers will know,” Anthony said.
In what appears to be related to the controversial CBN policy, reports emerged on Monday that the Department of State Service (DSS) had filed a suit accusing CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele of financing terrorism as well as other crimes it described as economic crimes of national security dimension. The DSS also prayed the court to grant it leave to arrest and detain the CBN governor.
But Justice J. T. Tsoho of a Federal High Court in Abuja refused to grant the prayer of the DSS, saying the allegations against the CBN governor were no doubt grave, but the applicant had not presented any concrete evidence to support the allegations.
“If the applicant believes that the evidence available to it so far is sufficient, then it can as well arrest and detain the applicant, even without the order of the court. If however the applicant desires to still pursue this application, then it should place the respondent on notice considering the sensitive public office that he occupies,” Justice Tsoho said after reeling out its reasons for refusing to grant the DSS request.
The alleged plot by the DSS to arrest and detain Emefiele sparked protests in Abuja on Monday, led by groups made up of lawyers and rights movements.
Comprising Buhari Legacy Defenders, Arewa Youth Consultative Movement, Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo Youth Movement, African Centre for Justice and Human rights, Ethnic Youth Leaders, Political Parties Chairmen Forum, Lawyers in Defence of Economic Rights and Justice, the protesters marched to the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, where they submitted a petition against the DSS and called for the sack of its director-general, Yusuf Bichi.
The groups said the plan to sack the CBN governor was orchestrated by politicians who were thrown off balance by the economic reform policy of the apex bank, especially the naira redesign and the cash withdrawal limit policies.
The coalition also submitted a similar letter to the Office of the President, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and Inspector-General of Police.
Tochukwu Ohazuruike, convener of the coalition, said the group had in its custody “genuine hardcore evidence of a plot by the DSS to frame the Governor of CBN, Emefiele for terrorism financing, abduct him and keep him away for at least 60 days in solitary confinement, which will pave way for the forceful removal of the CBN Governor from office and destabilize the President Buhari-backed CBN economic stability and reform efforts, especially the new currency redesign and cash withdrawal limit policies which in the immediate will help achieve President Buhari’s promise of a credible election in 2023”.
“We call on our dear President Buhari to immediately remove Mr. Bichi from office as Director-General of the DSS and order his immediate arrest for undermining the authority of the President, exposing him to risk and grave danger of unimaginable proportion,” Ohazuruike said.
But rather than respond directly to the issues raised by the protesters, the DSS in a late Monday night statement said its core function was to investigate crimes that have national security dimension and asked Nigerians to respect its roles.
In the statement titled “DSS remains focused on its mandate” and signed by Peter Afunanya, its Public Relations Officer, the DSS said it would not succumb to propaganda and intimidation.
‘“The Department of State Services, DSS, wishes to clarify that one of its roles is the investigation of matters of national security dimension. It has always discharged this responsibility in the overall interest of Nigerian citizens. As such, the Service will continue to disseminate actionable intelligence to the relevant authorities devoid of any sentiment,” DSS said in the statement.
“While professionally discharging its mandate, the DSS pledges to remain focused and unbiased. It will not, by any means, succumb to propaganda, intimidation and the desperation of hirelings to undermine it. It will also not give room to the use of falsehood and deceit to misdirect public understanding and perceptions of issues of national importance.
“Given not to joining issues, the Service warns those on a wild goose chase to be mindful of their actions. Similarly, it urges members of the public to disregard the vituperations and rantings of misguided elements and not allow themselves to be used as instruments of destabilisation,” it said.
The DSS said it would not be distracted by persons and/or groups from carrying out its duties to the nation, citizens, President and Commander-in-Chief.
“Citizens are, therefore, urged to avoid being used to thwart or undermine the Service and its lawful investigations as those who wish to act in the breach will be dealt with in accordance with the law,” it said.
On the same day, a Federal High Court sitting in Awka, Anambra State, directed that the CBN be served in a suit filed against it by the Incorporated Trustees of African Initiative Against Abuse of Public Trust.
In the suit which has the CBN, its governor Emefiele, and AGF Abubakar Malami as defendants, the plaintiff urged the court to order an interim injunction restraining the defendants, particularly the CBN and its governor, either by themselves or their privies or agents, from taking any step to enforce the implementation of the policy on the redesigning of naira and non-physical exchange of the old notes with the new notes without a clear policy on how to accommodate over 50 million Nigerians without bank accounts.
