EMEFIELE'S N500 BILLION SCANDAL: A SAHARA REPORTERS' HIT JOB.

ICHEOKU says thankfully the President and the Senate saw it for what it is, a hatchet job by a band of creeps to abort the renomination and reconfirmation of Godwin Emefiele to a second term, as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. An allegation, so outrageously ridiculous and outlandishly ludicrous that even an unfertilized, illogical mind, can easily discern the falsehood parlayed by the yellow journalism tabloid, Sahara Reporters. 

The conclusion drawn by Sahara Reporters failed to and did not collaborate what was actually said on the recorded telephone call between the governor and his deputy governor, as well as the finance director; leaving ICHEOKU to wonder, what motivates Omole Sowore? There was no basis in fact and discernible logical conjecture for any person to so conclude, except the person was out on a mission to disparage the governor and thereby derail his confirmation. But a confident President Muhammadu Buhari and a Senate which refused to be distracted, looked through the charade and barreled through to confirm the governor. ICHEOKU says absolutely well done fellas. 

Like other fake news purveyors, Sahara Reporters has increasingly morphed into a hit job tabloid which conducts reputation and character assassination on marked people, either as a hired gun or people Omole Sowore does not like. ICHEOKU says used to contribute articles on a nearly regular basis to Sahara Reporters until it carried out a hit job on then Inspector General of Police Ogbonna Onovo. In the hit piece, SR reported that the then IGP disobeyed then President Jonathan's lawful orders. When ICHEOKU confronted Omole Sowore on the subject matter piece, seeking to know how factually possible it is that an Inspector General of Police, who held office at the prerogative of the president, could disobey a president's orders, aware that such insubordination could result in the president wielding the big stick of dismissal, he became overtly defensive. 

Instead of addressing the obvious discrepant report, he went on a tirade, attacking ICHEOKU of also being am Igbo tribal champion who nobody reads. This is despite the fact that some of ICHEOKU's contributed articles to SR drew series of high ups attention including three governors, IBB as well as a reputable Yoruba Senior Advocate of Nigeria. But this geneological excursion is not the primary reason for this opinion piece, but to emphasis categorically that Omole Sowore is suffering the little man complex and everything that would keep him relevant and in the limelight is game for him and he has no scruples disparaging anyone, including this his latest attempt to vilify the Central Bank Governor Emefiele. 

An alleged audiophile of a supposedly intervention to fix a discovered bad investment gone wrong and it was not as if it was the governor alone that was involved, neither was the decision to make the investment instigated by the governor. It is also pertinent that in the first article, SR included that the problem was later solved but it subsequently went back to edit that out of what it currently parades as a stolen N500 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria which he got a scoop about. 

But Omole Sowore refused and failed to mention Dayo Arowosegbe who was the principal architect who advised the investments as it was obvious from the conversation, from the statements made by both the governor and the deputy governor on whose persuasion the alleged investment gone wrong was made. But as far as Omole Sowore was concerned, Godwin Emefiele is Igbo, the usual punching bag in Nigeria and therefore a fair game to be used as the piñata. It is sad and it is pitiful what hatred makes people to do; the length someone can go to malign another simply because he hates the fact that he is occupying a certain coveted office.

Every country invests in Middle Eastern Sovereign Wealth funds, so what Is a country the size of Nigeria investing less than $2 billion therein, and as with such a high profit high return quick turnaround investments, it comes with high risk of loss as well. Just listen to that tape and you will hear an exasperated governor worry himself sick that a trusted advisor and high bank official led the bank into such investment which did not turn around as anticipated; yet Omole Sowore wants to beguile Nigerians that Emefiele STOLE N500 billion of Nigeria's money in the Central Bank. When Sanusi was actually doing the real stealing, money laundering it through donations to his Islamist causes, including doling out N500 million to his Kano State, where was Omole Sowore holding him accountable?

This is a guy who never sees anything good in an Igbo person nor ever sees anything wrong his preferred Nigerians and you wonder how much he has covered Osibanjo, Lai Mohammed, Bola Tinubu, Fulani herdsmen, or even Atiku Abubakar. An audiophile in which the Deputy Governor Edward Adamu was heard saying that he was not happy that Arowosegbe led then like that, advising on the investment and the Dayo Arowosegbe is the director of Finance in the Central Bank. Continuing he added, 'I kept on  disturbing this guy in December and January but  he kept telling me no problem. God, this guy just..' 

Then add the governor lamenting that the same Dayo Arowosegbe did not give the Central Bank full information about the investment. Yet Omole Sowore left him out of the entire narrative and zeroed on his marked for demolition, the governor. Unfortunately most headline only readers as is the case with so many impatient Nigerians would have glance the headlines and ran with it, concluded that yes, Emefiele STOLE N500 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria. 

That Sahara Reporters Omole Sowore has chosen this perfidious path to infamy, disparaging innocent and hardworking Nigerians doing their best under the circumstances is to say the least parochial and a hallmark of a bigoted creep, who is either seeking to remain relevant or have the spotlight focused on him. ICHEOKU has no problem of any reporter writing whatever story they feel comfortable about; but when such story borders on somebody's propensity for honesty, candor and diligence, expected the story to be true and not a needless attempt just to disparage and damage and somehow botch a reconfirmation process of the governor. 

But thankfully, they failed to stop an honest, hardworking man as the Senate has risen to the occasion to give their nod to the president, who want the governor to continue doing the good work which he is engaged in at the Central Bank of Nigeria. So for the first time since 1999, a Central Bank of Nigeria governor got a mandate for a second term and Sahara Reporters and other detractors hatchet men and women who wanted to sabotage his renomination will now have their crows to eat and will be in anguish for the next five years as Godwin Emefiele runs through his second term as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. 

ICHEOKU says congratulations to the governor and his management team for the good job which they are doing, holding a stabilized Naira and an economy which is showing some real growth, despite the distractions and somewhat sabotages of their effort. Hopefully, the now empowered governor will conduct an internal investigation to find out who leaked the tape of calumny and take appropriate measures to ensure that such a snitch never had assess to such important high level management brainstorming over the financial issues of the Central Bank of Nigeria.