Akpabio on Emefiele: He messed up economy, we don't know what to charge him

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has claimed that President Bola Tinubu's administration inherited an economic mess and huge debt profile caused by the policies implemented by the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

The former Akwa Ibom State Governor made this known while speaking at a thanksgiving service by organised Senator Barinada Mpigi in Koroma, Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State, on Sunday, February 18, 2024.

The event was also attended by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, and Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, among other dignitaries.

Since his removal from office by Tinubu in June 2023, Emefiele has been slammed with several allegations, including illegal possession of a firearm, forgery, and financial crimes.

Meanwhile, Akpabio claimed that the former CBN governor committed so many atrocities that the current government is not sure on which one to prosecute him.

“So, the kind of debt and economic mess that we are in, a lot of people will not understand but I remember President Obama saying that you cannot know Washington until you get to Washington.

“So, by the time we went in to look at the economic situation of the country, it was terrible. You know that the former governor of the central bank, we did not even know what to charge him with.

"Whether to charge him for putting foam on top of the bill or to charge him for illegal possession of a firearm or to charge him for printing notes without income, I don’t know what we are going to charge him with.

“But what we can is that yes there is hunger today because of the policies and actions that they took, and we recognise that, and I think every political party should recognise that there is hunger, and we are battling to ensure that Nigerians sleep with their eyes closed,” the Senate President said.

He assured that the government is making efforts to end insecurity and ensure that food commodities become affordable for Nigerians, appealing that patience is required to fix the rot that has been in place for over 60 overs.

“Yes, there is insecurity, we are battling to ensure that Nigerians can take three square meals a day. But be rest assured that we campaigned for this job, we campaigned around the country, we will not let you down, we will get to the bottom of it, all we need is your patience.

“That rots that have happened in Nigeria for so many years for almost 60 years cannot be solved in six months,” he said.

On January 18, 2024, the Federal Government amended the criminal charges against Emefiele, increasing them from six to 20 counts.

In the amended charges, the former CBN governor was alleged to have committed criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, procurement fraud and conspiracy to commit a felony.