ABUJA - Nigeria's suspended central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele has been detained and is being held in custody for investigative reasons, the police's Department of State Services (DSS) said on Saturday.
The country's new President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele with immediate effect on Friday, a measure the government said was linked to an investigation of the governor's office and into planned reforms in the financial sector.
Emefiele's suspension had been expected after he drew sharp criticism during the run-up to the February presidential vote from Tinubu's camp.
Allies of Tinubu accused Emefiele of trying to sabotage their election campaign when his plan to swap old naira bank notes caused severe cash shortages and triggered public anger.
Tinubu had promised reforms to help Africa's largest economy emerge from financial troubles.
"The Department of State Services (DSS) hereby confirms that Mr Godwin Emefiele, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is now in its custody for some investigative reasons," the DSS internal security agency said in a statement.
The DSS did not give details, but one of Tinubu's government spokesmen earlier said that Emefiele had been suspended immediately as part of an "ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector".
The bank's deputy governor will step into the director's role pending the conclusion of investigations, the statement said.
Emefiele has held the post for nearly a decade. He has not commented publicly about the investigation or his suspension.
Under Nigerian law, the permanent removal of a central bank governor from office would require a vote by the Senate.
Tinubu criticised Emefiele's handling of the currency and monetary policy at his inauguration last week and called on the central bank to work towards a unified exchange rate.
Emefiele was also under fire over a policy by former president Muhammadu Buhari to replace old naira currency notes with new ones to prevent corruption during the election and curtail cash ransom payments after kidnappings.
The policy led to a huge naira cash shortage across Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, where many people rely on cash payments in the informal economy to survive.
Emefiele had also attempted to run against Tinubu in the ruling All Progressives Congress or APC party primaries to be the party candidate for the presidency.
A former Lagos governor, Tinubu already stoked controversy on his May 29 inauguration day by immediately calling for an end to long-standing government subsidies to keep petrol prices artificially low.
Fuel prices almost tripled across Nigeria, after Tinubu announced that subsidies were "gone" on the day he took office.
Most analysts say the subsidies were needed to end to help the government save billions of dollars in expenses. But it triggered a rapid spike in transportation costs, sending food prices soaring while electricity has become more costly for those using generators for power at home and business.
Economic analysts expect a series of changes at the central bank, including a gradual devaluation of the naira.
"We doubt there will be a single 'bullet' devaluation to parallel market levels," said Razia Khan, Standard Chartered managing director and chief economist, Africa and Middle East.
Nigeria is facing severe dollar shortages, forcing many people and businesses to seek foreign exchange on the parallel black market, where the naira has weakened more steeply.
Under Emefiele, the central bank pursued an unorthodox monetary policy, including handing trillions of naira in cheap credit to farmers and industry to boost output and maintaining multiple exchange rates.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Reuters