Godwin Emefiele, former Central Bank governor, has been accused of operating 593 bank accounts in the United States, the United Kingdom, and China, where Nigerian funds were allegedly kept without authorization by the CBN’s Board and Investment Committee.
A report by a special investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu, Jim Obazee, disclosed how billions of naira were allegedly stolen by Emefiele and other officials from the CBN’s accounts, including a “fraudulent cash withdrawal of $6.23 million” just before the 2023 elections.
“The former governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele, invested Nigeria’s money without authorization in 593 foreign bank accounts in the United States, China and the United Kingdom while he was in charge,” the report said.
“All the accounts where the billions were lodged have all been traced by the investigator.”
Obazee claimed that his investigation in the United Kingdom led him to 543.4 million pounds kept by Emefiele in fixed deposit accounts, noting that Emefiele manipulated the Naira exchange rate and perpetrated fraud in the e-Naira project of the CBN.
The controversial redesign of the naira, according to Obazee’s report, “was neither recommended by the Board of the CBN nor approved by the then President, Muhammadu Buhari, in contravention of the provisions of Section 19 (1) of the CBN Act, 2007.”
He also noted that Emefiele did not consult with the management of the CBN nor seek any recommendation from the Board of the CBN as required by Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007.
“It was a conspiracy against the Nigerian people and specifically the political class by the then CBN Governor (Mr Godwin Emefiele) and one of the erstwhile CBN Deputy Governor (Mr Folashodun Shonubi). The idea was that of Mr Shonubi (claiming interwoven challenges) and Mr Godwin Emefiele designed and approved the currency on October 19, 2022,” Obazee said.
“It was indeed meant to frustrate the political class and make their election agenda very difficult. It turned out to be a huge punishment to Nigerians and the Nigerian economy coincidentally.”
The investigator noted that the former president tagged along but did not approve the redesign as required by law, saying that “Buhari merely approved that the currency be printed in Nigeria.”
He added that the redesign was only mentioned to the board of the CBN on December 15, 2022, after Emefiele had awarded the contract to Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc on October 31, 2022.
The CBN printed the new N200, N500, and N1000 notes at a total cost of N61.5 billion, of which N31.8 billion was paid to the contractor, despite the fact that the total value of the new notes in circulation as of August was only N769,562 billion, according to Obazee.
The investigator added that “the sum of N1,727,500,000 was also spent on questionable legal fees on 19 cases that are directly traceable to the Naira redesign and reconfiguration agenda.”
The Special Investigator also exposed additional misconduct, asserting that Emefiele and his deputies were involved in fraudulent activities related to the misapplication of the “Ways and Means” facility. This facility, intended for temporary government funding, was purportedly misused to the tune of N26.627 trillion, he said.
The investigator also brought attention to fraudulent intervention programs, questionable expenditures linked to COVID-19, and a misrepresentation of presidential approval concerning the NESI Stabilisation Strategy Ltd.
Regarding the “fraudulent use of ‘Ways and Means,’ the investigator stated, “Section 38 of the CBN Act, 2007 allows the CBN to grant temporary advances to the Federal Government in respect of temporary deficiency of budget revenue at an interest. This is what is commonly referred to as “Ways and Means”. The said Section also provides that such advance is to be repaid by the end of the Federal Government financial year in which they are granted, otherwise the CBN shall be stopped from granting such advances in subsequent years. The advance is never to be repaid by way of Promissory note, Securitisation nor issuance of Treasury Bills; etc.
