CBN: Obiora Invited For Questioning, Not Arrested By DSS – Report

Dr. Kingsley Obiora, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for Economic Policy, has not been arrested by the Department of State Security (DSS) contrary to reports circulating in the media.

Obiora was invited by the Jim Obazee Special Investigative Panel to answer questions related to official matters, a CBN source told PerSecondNews.

The CBN Deputy Governor previously held positions at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and served as an advisor to former Finance Minister and Current Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Obiora assumed his current role as one of CBN’s four deputy governors on March 2, 2020.

“Kingsley was not arrested by the DSS. He was invited by the Jim Obazee special investigative panel and is under interrogation and clarification on some official matters,” said the source who further emphasized that Obiora has not committed any offenses warranting arrest.

It was revealed that the Acting CBN Governor, Mr. Folashodun Shonubi, was similarly invited and interrogated by the panel regarding the activities of the central bank during the tenure of the suspended governor, Godwin Emefiele.

Additionally, two other Deputy Governors, Mrs. Aishah Ahmad and Mr. Edward L. Adamu, are said to be currently undergoing interrogation by the same panel.

This investigation follows President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of Jim Obazee as the Special Investigator to probe the activities of the CBN and related entities on July 31, 2023.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Abbas Umar Masanawa, who was also invited for questioning has been released.

The ongoing investigations by the Obazee Special Investigative Panel are expected to shed light on recent allegations bordering on abuse of office by Emefiele.