Kingsley Obiora, the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in charge of economic policy, has been reportedly arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS).
According to report, the CBN deputy governor has spent four nights in the custody of the DSS.
It was gathered that the secret police is looking into allegations of financial mismanagement under Godwin Emefiele, the suspended apex bank governor.
A DSS source familiar with the arrest told People’s Gazette that Kingsley was being targeted as a principal witness against his boss.
A source within the CBN alleged that the Special Investigations Panel set up by President Bola Tinubu to investigate the tenure of Emefiele might be instrumental to the invitation as part of a move to get him to stand as a witness.
It was also revealed that the Jim Obazee-led special panel has been questioning the deputy governors of the CBN, as well as other senior officials of the bank, as part of an ongoing audit.
The source said, “Let us be clear. No one is accusing Dr Obiora of fraud or theft. Dr Obiora, like other deputy governors, had been questioned severally by the panel before his detention.”
Another top CBN official, Abbas Masanawa, was arrested recently and held in custody as officials seek to determine the steepness of Emefiele’s alleged corruption.
Obiora, born March 6, 1976, was a policy chief at the International Monetary Fund and advised former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. He was also an adviser to Emefiele until March 2, 2020, when he was confirmed to his current position as one of CBN’s four deputy governors.
Recall that Emefiele, who was first appointed as CBN governor in June 2014, has been in SSS since June 10, 2023, a day after he was controversially removed from office by President Bola Tinubu.
