January 10, (THEWILL) – A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has recanted on its call for a visa ban and arrest of Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The groups had earlier demanded that Emefiele be arrested and prosecuted over reports of misappropriation of N89 trillion stamp duty.
While the Presidency had dismissed the allegation, the CBN had also engaged four audit firms to conduct a forensic review of stamp duty collections from 2015-date.
Reading its apology letter to Emefiele, during a press conference in Abuja on Monday, the CSOs noted that the allegations against him were false and untrue of his person and office.
Leaders of the groups, Mohammed Ibrahim of Northern Leaders Coalition; Gbenga Ganzallo of League of Professionals for Good Governance and Accountability; and Chief Sampam of Transparency Africa, who addressed the press conference, admitted that the coalition acted in error after a thorough examination of the issue.
The letter read in part: “We hereby tender our unreserved apology to the CBN Governor for getting involved wrongfully and joining forces to call for his arrest and removal from office. This action we sincerely regret and apologise.
“We hereby declare our unalloyed support for Emefiele and his numerous policies that are approved by President Buhari. Again, call on all detractors to stop propagating falsehood and blackmail against the CBN Governor and to allow him to focus on his core mandate, which is monetary policy with an immense value.
“Also, we urge our political class to allow our public officers to work and not to be distracted in any form. We respectfully urge the DSS to sheath their sword and work with the CBN Governor to eradicate illicit financial flows in the country with great efficiency.
“We need peace in our polity as we approach the 2023 general election. The political class is hereby warned to desist from fake news and blackmail as a way to ensure free, fair and credible elections come 2023.
“We frown on behavioural tendencies that would destabilise our democracy. Again, we make bold to say that we want peace and nothing but peace.”
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