LAGOS – Against the backdrop of allegation of sponsorship of terrorism against Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Southern and Middle Belt Lead­ers’ Forum has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to put his house in order, save Nigeria from unwarranted national embarrass­ments, even as it warns that nothing should happen to the apex bank’s leader.

A statement on Monday signed by Chief (Dr.) Ed­win Kiagbodo Clark, lead­er, South-South/PANDEF; Chief Ayo Adebanjo, leader, Afenifere; Dr. Pogu Bitrus, President, Middle Belt Fo­rum, and Ambassador Okey Emuchay, Secretary-General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, noted that the call became necessary following the re­cent, disgraceful, attempt by the Department of State Ser­vices (DSS) to surreptitiously obtain an ex-parte order from the Federal High Court, Abu­ja, to arrest and detain Eme­fiele.

According to the group, the action of the DSS is not only a travesty of the nation’s judiciary, but also a grave dis­service to the Nigerian state, and a mortification of the nation’s image.

The statement read, “It is unthinkable that the DSS would recklessly and care­lessly accuse Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the CBN, of financing terrorism and involvement in econom­ic crimes of national security dimension. This is not only shameful but a disgrace to the Buhari administration and the nation, and is capable of unsettling the socioeconomic tractions of the country.

“What is the evidence that Emefiele is involved in terrorism financing? If the allegations against the CBN governor are genuine, why didn’t the DSS present its findings to the president for consideration and necessary action?

“It is common knowledge that the governor of CBN has been carrying out Mr. Pres­ident’s directives religious­ly. We wonder whether it is those instructions given to him by the President, which he carries out that make him a terrorism sponsor. Or there are personal actions and ac­tivities he has carried out without the president’s ap­proval and instruction?”

The group added, “The CBN governor has been do­ing everything to salvage the nation’s economy with many intervention schemes in agriculture and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), etcetera, to ensure that indi­viduals, households and busi­nesses across all sectors of the economy receive support to sustain their operations and livelihoods, especially during COVID and even in post-COVID era.

“It was thwarting that Emefiele, practically ‘ap­ple-polished’ certain sections of the country with the apex bank’s intervention schemes to boost production of farm commodities, providing smallholder farmers with inputs, in kind and cash, particularly in the Northern states that supposedly have comparative advantage to produce rice, maize, wheat, cotton, tomato, roots and tu­bers like cassava, potatoes, yam, etcetera.”

The group lamented that it is bemusing that Mr. Yusuf Bichi, the Director-General of the DSS, and his backers, presumed all citizens have been “conquered”.

“Allegedly acting on a petition, the DSS filed a se­cret suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on December 7, under section 66 of the Ter­rorism Prevention and Pro­hibition Act, 2022, to request a court order for Mr. Emefiele’s arrest and detention for 60 days, in the first instance.

“But, the respected judge, Justice John Tsoho, who is the Chief Judge of the Fed­eral High Court, Abuja, in his ruling on December 9, 2022, rejected the application on the grounds that the DSS failed to provide sufficient evidence to warrant the is­suance of an arrest warrant against Emefiele.”

SMBLF applauded the courage and bravery of the judge, stressing that it is gratifying to know that there are still men and women of character and integrity, who can firmly defend and uphold justice, without fear or favour.

“The judge in his ruling also inferred that there was no seeming indication that the President approved the action of the DSS. If indeed, President Muhammadu Bu­hari was not aware of the plot, then, it would be inex­cusable to allow Bichi remain a moment longer in office as DG of DSS.”

SMBLF demands that Bi­chi be relieved of his position, without any delay, for being disloyal and discourteous to the President and the nation, and be made to render an un­reserved public apology to the nation and Emefiele.

“SMBLF calls for thorough investigation of incident, to determine officials and indi­viduals behind the disgrace­ful and subversive plot, and appropriate sanctions meted to anyone found culpable.

“This is a very sensitive matter and must be given serious attention by the gov­ernment. The misadventure has further brought to the fore the disturbing gaps and discordance in the Buhari ad­ministration, which account for the many policy conflicts and misdirection in the gov­ernment.

“It is important to un­derscore that SMBLF as a responsible organisation comprised of prominent statesmen of Nigeria, who have served and still serving, and contributing immense­ly to the betterment of our great country, won’t support acts of venality, at any level; however, we maintain that it is unfair that people would be so harassed and persecuted, merely, because of their eth­nicity or religion or for even serving their Fatherland mer­itoriously.

“While we appreciate that the military, the police and other security and intelli­gence agencies including the DSS have constitutional duties and roles to perform for the nation and its citi­zens, and the President and Commander-in-Chief, it is imperative to caution that such duties should be carried out dispassionately and pro­fessionally, with acceptable deference to the rule of law.

“We cannot continue to run Nigeria like a banana re­public, or an Estate, owned by certain individuals or groups. We warn that if anything untoward happens to Eme­fiele, there shall be severe consequences. This country belongs to all of us. Enough is enough,” the group said.