The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has been accused by Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), of spewing slanderous comments about him. This is an astonishing turn of events.

The allegations originate from remarks allegedly made by the Senate President at a function, which Emefiele states unfairly denigrated his reputation and implicated him in the genesis of Nigeria’s present fiscal crisis.

The Senate President said in the broadcast speech, that the government was unsure of what charges to file against Emefiele. He mentioned possible charges include; promoting economic instability, unlawful gun possession, and illicit money printing.

The former governor of CBN has entered a plea of not guilty and is vigorously defending his claim of innocence in his ongoing legal challenges, and these words have caused commotion.

In a letter to the Senate President on Wednesday, Emefiele’s attorney, Matthew Burkaa, SAN, said that the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria believes these claims to be untrue, misrepresented, and created in bad faith. It was decided that the remarks were intended to demean his persona.

The letter demanded that the remark be immediately retracted, that an apology be sent in writing, and that N25,000,000,000 be paid in damages for the claimed defamation.

The legal team contended that by weighing in on a case that is presently undergoing judicial scrutiny, the Senate President’s remarks not only compromise the independence of the judiciary but additionally fail to recognize Emefiele’s economic benefits to Nigeria.

They emphasized his contribution to the finance sector’s innovations and his efforts to resolve the P&ID Saga, both of which benefited Nigeria.

The letter further highlighted that no policy was implemented during Emefiele’s administration outside the President’s and the Federal Executive Council’s approval or order; of which Akpabio was a substantial member. This remark highlighted how tricky it is to blame Emefiele alone for the nation’s economic problems.

The letter in its entirety stated: “We are Solicitors to Dr. Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (hereinafter referred to as “Our Client”), on whose brief and instruction, we write this letter to you as follows:

“Our Client’s attention has been drawn to a widely circulated statement made by you against him on Channels Television on or about the 18th February, 2024 which he considers false, distorted and clearly aimed at disparaging his character and indeed made in bad faith.

“The said statement is contained in a video and was made by you to a large gathering of persons and circulated globally via uncountable online media.

“The statement which has now gone viral had this heading attached to its preface ”we don’t know what crime to charge emefiele with” in the video, you stated clearly and unequivocally, among other things, as follows:

‘So the kind of debt and the kind of economic mess that we are in, a lot of people do not understand, 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 state of the country it was terrible, so the Former Governor of Central of Bank of Nigeria we didn’t even know what to charge him, whether to charge him for putting foam on the … or to charge him for illegal possession of Fire Arms or to Charge him for printing notes without income, I don’t know what we are going to charge him with. But, what I know is that, yes there is hunger today because of the policies that they took.’

“The above statement, whether taken in their ordinary, figurative or literal meaning portrayed Our Client as:

“The cause of the entire hardship in Nigeria today is as a result of the policies of the previous administration.

“A serial offender whose action is responsible for all the hardship experienced by Nigerians today.

“A person who has committed offences that are so numerous that the government is confused as to which of the offences to prefer a charge against him.

“Your Excellency, as the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, you certainly know, or have reasons to know that the Federal Government of Nigeria had since the 14th August, 2023 preferred Charges against Our Client to which he had long pleaded not guilty and is presently defending same to exonerate himself and show that he is not guilty of the said allegations.

“It is therefore disturbing, that such a statement would be made by the Head of the Legislature of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on a matter that is clearly subjudice.

“Your statement, with the greatest respect, clearly undermines the honour and integrity of the Court and its independence and indeed has the propensity of prejudicing the case against Our Client.

“Having submitted to the jurisdiction of the Court, it is only fair and proper that the Court should be allowed to determine the issues submitted to it without unnecessary pressure from any other arm of Government.

“Secondly Sir, as a Senior member of the Bar, a former Governor of a State, A Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and former Minister under the immediate past Administration, your statement attributing the present economic woes of the country solely on Our Client is most appalling and exposes the inaccuracies in Your assertions, especially, as you were a major player in the immediate Past Administration and worked closely with Our Client and indeed witnessed the innovations he introduced in the banking sector and its impact on the economy whilst in office, as well as the role he played despite all odds in salvaging Nigeria in the P & ID Saga and the positive result it brought for Nigeria. 

“You are also aware that no single policy was carried out by Our Client without the approval, directive or authorization of the President and/or the Federal Executive Council of which you were a key and powerful member.

“It is pursuant to the above and without delving into the matter presently pending in Court that Our Client has instructed that we write to Your good offices and demand the immediate retraction of Your statement which has gone viral and are considered clearly defamatory of Our Client

“These baseless and false allegations clearly defames the character of Our Client and has also caused him great pains and embarrassment as it has lowered his esteem before the right thinking members of the Society in addition to the obvious odium and opprobrium from the unsuspecting members of the Society as a result of the falsity contained in that statement. 

“We therefore have Our Client’s further instruction to demand from you an unreserved apology in writing, published and circulated by the same medium with which you have defamed his character and the sum of Twenty-Five Billion Naira (N25,000,000,000) as reasonable compensation for the willful and unjustifiable denigration of his hard earned reputation.

“In the event that you fail, refuse or neglect to comply with this legitimate demand, Our Client will be at liberty to seek the appropriate redress available to him under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Whilst anticipating your compliance with the above, kindly accept the assurances of our best regards.”

The hefty damage claim and the demand for a retraction and apology have caused national attention and brought attention to the role played by both previous and current senior government officials in Nigeria’s financial stability.