Akpabio called for patience saying the damages to the economy cannot be solved within a short time.
The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has disclosed that the federal government is unsure of which charges to file against Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), due to the volume of allegations against him.
Speaking on Sunday during a Thanksgiving service hosted by Senator Barinada Mpigi (PDP, Rivers South-East), Akpabio attributed the country’s current suffering to decisions that they took, pointing out that the current state of poverty and hunger is the result of nearly 60 years of degradation.
He said, “I remember President Obama saying 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.
“So you know that the former Governor of Central Bank, we don’t even know what to charge him with.
“Whether to charge him for putting foam on top of a pail, or to charge him for illegal possession of firearms, or to charge him for printing notes without income. I don’t know what we’re going to charge him with.
“But what we know is that yes, there is hunger today because of the kind of policies and actions that they took and we recognise that, and I think every political party should recognise that there is hunger, and we’re battling to ensure that Nigerians can sleep with their eyes closed.
“There is insecurity. We’re battling to ensure Nigerians can eat three square meals a day.”
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Akpabio urged Nigerians to be patient, saying that the Tinubu-led government would keep the promises for which they had “campaigned and danced” the nation.
“But rest assured that we campaigned for this job, we campaigned and danced around the country. We will not let you down.
“We will get to the bottom of it. All we need is patience. The rot that has happened in Nigeria for so many years, for almost 60 years, cannot be solved in six months. So what we need is patience… patience from all quarters.”
The event, held in Koroma, Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State, was attended by the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, and other dignitaries.
OrderPaper recalls that following the removal of Emefiele as the CBN governor by President Bola Tinubu in June 2023, he was prosecuted by the Federal Government over charges bordering on financial crimes.
The charges were later amended and it were increased from six counts to 20 counts. In the new amendment, Emefiele was charged with alleged criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, procurement fraud, and conspiracy to commit a felony.
