The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, led by Godwin Emefiele is again in the news for the wrong reasons. On 6th November 2020 the CBN applied and obtained court order to freeze the accounts of 19 individuals and one corporate entity on allegation that they sponsored the recent nationwide #EndSARS youth protests against police brutality, extortion and murder.
The court directed the banks to freeze all transactions on the 20 accounts on the list annexed to the CBN’s application as Exhibit ‘A’ and all other bank accounts of the defendants and respondents for a period of 180 days pending the outcome of investigation and inquiry. This order was obtained without putting the parties on notice.
We are yet to ascertain if CBN governor and indeed the bank have successfully resolved burning issues relating to monetary policy and foreign exchange management in the Nigerian economy including inadequacy of monetary instruments, under development of the money and capital markets, high interest and inflation rates structure, inadequate growth and widespread poverty in Nigeria; to dabbling into the murky waters of youths’ protests.
For CBN to resort to ex-parte motion negates the natural course of justice of “hearing from the other party”. The freezing of bank accounts owned by #EndSARS protesters and promoters is a gross violation of citizen’s rights and an attack on Nigeria’s democracy, freedom of speech and human rights.
Surprisingly, the same government that commended the youths for the peaceful manner they carried out the protest had turned around to haunt them. Indeed, many Nigerians commended the youths for their peaceful disposition during the protests and for their organizational skill until it was hijacked by some hoodlums who turned it into a wave of fury and violence.
The likes of Emefiele and other highly placed Nigerians including President Muhammadu Buhari also hailed the youths for exercising their fundamental rights to engage in peaceful protest. But the same Nigerians including the law-abiding youths also rose to condemn acts of violence and brigandage introduced in the protest by a few highly vicious persons. The introduction of violence, whether by omission or commission, took so much virtue from the protest and tarred it with a veneer of destruction
Agreed, the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, BOFIA (as amended), the CBN Act and the acts setting up the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC) confer on them the power to red-flag any account.
In banking parlance, it’s called post-no-debit-order or temporary freezing of an account. But in doing this, government agencies including the CBN must not create the impression that they are embarking on an act of vendetta. The excuse by the CBN that the proceeds were from terrorism falls flat and could be better described as an afterthought. It smacks of desperation by the government through the CBN Governor to nail the youths for the simple reason that they asked for police reform. At what point did CBN realise that the persons being arraigned were involved in money laundering or terrorism? Would these same persons had been arraigned in court had they not participated in the ENDSARRS protests?
The government gave the impression that it wants to attend to the demands of the protesters. The President and the Vice president pleaded with the young people to suspend the protest and called for a dialogue. For us to now see the same government arresting people, taking them to court and their freezing accounts, is unfortunate and must be condemned. What the
CBN has done is embarrassing.
We recall that the previous week one of the #EndSARS protesters was barred from travelling outside Nigeria and had her passport seized. By the court order, the courts have breached one of the twin pillars of natural justice, which is, “hear the other side of the case”. It is also very unfortunate that such an order that would subject the citizens to further economic hardship would be given ex-parte despite the state of affairs in Nigeria.
Such orders are only given where there are statutory provisions otherwise, one fundamental consideration before a court can make or grant an ex parte application, is “balance of convenience.” If the court had balanced the convenience prior to the granting of the order, such an order ought not to have been granted in the first instance. Our institutions should be neutral and independent of the executive arm of government. What the CBN governor has done is morally and legally wrong.
We urge the government especially the CBN and the Attorney- General of the Federation to rescind the decision and allow peace to rain. The polity is currently facing so much pressure to warrant additional stress on the already fragile economy.
We also urge those affected to seek legal redress by challenging the orders made as such orders infringe upon their rights to fair hearing and justice.
