By Isaac Akerele
Staggering sums from Nigeria’s foreign reserves cannot be properly tracked from 2018 to 2020 according to an audit report exposing oversight failures at the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN).
The audit report from the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation, Mr Shaakaa Chira, reportedly reveals a shocking decrease of $4.5 billion in the country’s external reserves from December 2018 to 2019 which the apex Bank could not entirely unexplain. Additionally, over $8 billion was ssid to have been withdrawn from the account between 2019 and 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis. The apex bank at that time was under the leadership of the now indicted ex-Governor of the CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele.
According to an investigative report by Premium Times, such dramatic declines according to Shaakaa, violated rules mandating the Bank to maintain appropriate reserve levels to support Nigeria’s economy and currency.
The findings also allegedly uncovered a total failure to lodge billions of recovered looted funds from 2016 to 2020.
According to the AGF, the shortfalls directly undermined public trust and could spur inflation, currency instability, reduced purchasing power and more. It may also force increased borrowing to fill gaps.
It would be recalled that Foreign reserves include assets like foreign bank deposits that allow a central bank to maintain currency value and financial system integrity. Indeed, healthy reserves limit risks of currency devaluation.
Nigeria has sought to grow reserves to above $40 billion since 2021 given heavy reliance on volatile oil exports. Reserves help absorb price shocks and smooth currency fluctuations.
The recent unexplained declines from almost $43 billion to $35 billion counter efforts to stabilize markets. And the government depends on tracking inflows like repatriated loot to fund operations.
While the CBN contends that thecgaps were interventions sought to back the naira, experts argue gaps point to control failures during the Emefiele era. These include weak tracking enables graft and mismanagement.
The report added:”Past reserve scandals like the “missing $20 billion” under Goodluck Jonathan illustrated oversight vulnerabilities centralized in the Bank. Critics say such lapses continue to enable abuse and starve development.
“Restoring accountability remains vital to achieve economic stability and inclusive growth. But resignation rather than solutions still dominate official reactions so far.”
