He's not in our custody - DSS reacts to Emefiele's rumoured arrest

The Department of State Service (DSS) has debunked the viral claim that it is holding the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, in its custody.

This was made known via a terse statement on the secret police's Twitter page on Saturday, June 10, 2023.

Moments after his suspension was made public on Friday night, reports started flying around that the DSS had swooped in on the embattled top banker.

However, responding to the reports, DSS spokesman Peter Afunanya, said the service doesn't currently have Emefiele in its custody.

“Currently, Emefiele is not with the DSS,” the statement read.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu suspended Emefiele from office with immediate effect on Friday night. The decision was conveyed in a statement issued by the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Willie Bassey.

Bassey explained that Emefiele was suspended as the CBN governor because of an ongoing investigation as well as a planned reform of the financial sector.

Following his suspension, he was directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, who will act as the CBN governor pending the conclusion of the investigation and the reforms.

Emefiele's suspension came as no surprise as he had been tipped as a potential casualty of the Tinubu presidency following his controversial naira swap and cashless policy that created negative publicity for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) before the February 25 presidential election.