The State Security Service has arrested Abbas Umar Masanawa, the Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, NIRSAL, for his alleged role in the ongoing corruption case of the suspended CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Informed SSS insiders said Mr. Masanawa was taken into custody three weeks ago and has remained there while their investigation continued. It was not immediately clear whether or not he has hired lawyers to represent him in the case.
The NSPMC is a subsidiary of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) responsible for printing and minting the nation’s currency notes, coins and high-level security documents.
Mr Masanawa’s arrest came after President Tinubu appointed an anti-graft expert, Jim Obazee, to uncover fraud at the CBN and other federal agencies. The Obazee-led team is said to have initiated a probe into all relevant agencies that are said to have connived with the CBN and its sprawling parastatals.
A former deputy general manager at Zenith Bank, Mr Masanawa served as special adviser to Mr Emefiele and steadily moved up the rung to become the executive director at the NSPMC. Former President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him as the organisation’s managing director in September 2018.
In May 2022, Mr Mansanawa declared his intention to contest the governorship election in Katsina without stepping down from office. He promptly resigned from his position following The Gazette’s story on his misconduct.
After he failed to clinch the ticket, Mr Emefiele appointed him as the new head of NIRSAL, following the removal of the agency’s former boss Aliyu Abdulhameed amid corruption allegations. Mr Abdulhameed however denied any wrongdoing.
