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By Emmanuel Adeleke
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has said the allegations against the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, are so numerous that the Federal Government does not know what charge to pin on him.
Akpabio stated this on Sunday at a thanksgiving service organised in honour of the Senator representing Rivers South East Senatorial District, Barinada Mpigi.
The number three citizen also blamed the economic hardship sweeping through the land on the policies and actions that they took.
He, however, did not specify who the “they” he was referring to are.
Akpabio further said the prevailing hunger and economic hardship are consequences of almost 60 years of rot.
He appealed to Nigerians to be patient, adding that the current administration will deliver on the its campaign promises.
“So the kind of debt and the economic mess that we are in… and lots 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 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.
“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,” Akpabio said.
The event, which took place in Koroma, Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State, was also attended by the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi; Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly; Martin Amaewhule among others.