We're confused about Emefiele's charges, considering the mess he caused in Nigerian economy - Akpabio

Advertisements

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said the Nigerian economy has been messed up, heaping the blame on terrible policies of the immediate former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

The Senate President spoke at a thanksgiving service by Senator Barinada Mpigi in Koroma, Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State on Sunday.

According to him, “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 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.”

He, however, assured that the government is making efforts to end insecurity and ensure that Nigerians feed well.

Consequently, he pleaded with Nigerians to be patient as the rot over 60 years cannot be solved in six months.

He said, “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.”

Emefiele, who was removed frim office as CBN governor in June 2023, is facing prosecution by the Federal Government over charges bordering on financial crimes.

On January 18, the Federal Government amended the criminal charges files against the former CBN governor.

They increased the charges from six counts to 20 counts. In the amendment, Emefiele was charged for alleged criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, procurement fraud and conspiracy to commit a felony.