The State Security Service has arrested Kingsley Obiora, the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria in charge of economic policy.
Obiora has spent four nights in custody under questioning by the security service, which has been looking into allegations of financial mismanagement under Godwin Emefiele, the ousted governor.
Emefiele, who was first appointed as CBN governor in June 2014, has been in SSS since June 10, a day after he was removed from office by President Bola Tinubu.
While two federal judges have ordered Mr Emefiele’s release, the SSS has continued to find other grounds to hold him in custody, often filing fresh charges to supersede earlier ones for which the top banker had been arraigned.
A source familiar with Obiora’s arrest said he was being held as a principal witness against his boss.
Another top CBN official, Abbas Masanawa was arrested recently and held in custody, as officials seek to determine the depth of Emefiele’s alleged corruption.
However, further efforts are on to hear from the SSS and CBN about Obiora’s detention, which officials said was not entirely unexpected given his knowledge of CBN’s policy decisions.
Obiora, born March 6, 1976, was a policy chief at the International Monetary Fund.
He was also an adviser to former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
He was held the position of an adviser to Emefiele until March 2, 2020, when he was confirmed to his current position as one of CBN’s four deputy governors.
Tinubu, in late July, appointed a special investigator to probe the CBN and other federal agencies suspected of long fostering a culture of public graft.
Jim Osayande Obazee resumed work in early August at CBN,” officials said.
Credit: People Gazzette
