By Ken Afor
Godwin Emefiele, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), illicitly deposited billions of naira across 593 bank accounts in the United States, United Kingdom, and China, as per The PUNCH.
This action was undertaken without the necessary authorization from the apex bank’s Board of Directors and the CBN Investment Committee.
According to the outlet, the report by the Special Investigator on the CBN and Related Entities, Jim Obaze who was appointed by President Bola Tinubu in July, uncovered that the former CBN governor illicitly deposited £543,482,213 in fixed accounts solely in UK banks.
Upon being contacted by the outlet, Emefiele’s counsel, Mathew Bukkaa (SAN), requested a text message from the outlet.
However, as of the time of filing the report, Bukkaa had not responded to the message.
Meanwhile, in the document: “Report of the Special Investigation on CBN and Related Entities (Chargeable offences),” submitted to President Bola Tinubu by Obaze on Wednesday, the former apex bank chief, Emefiele illegally operated close to 600 foreign bank accounts while he was in charge.
The report stated that the sum of the money logged in the foreign accounts are in the billions.
The report partly read: “The former governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele invested Nigeria’s money without authorization in 593 foreign bank accounts in the United States, China and United Kingdom, while he was in charge.
“All the accounts where the billions were lodged have all been traced by the investigator.”
However, Emefiele, is currently in detention in the Kuje Custodial Centre in Abuja, over a N1.2 billion procurement fraud.
Regrettably, he has been unable to fulfill the conditions of the N300 million bail that was granted to him by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory on November 22.
Nevertheless, documents obtained on Thursday suggest the former governor of the apex bank may encounter new criminal allegations regarding his management of the CBN naira redesign policy.
Emefiele, along with Tunde Sabiu, a former aide to former President Muhammadu Buhari, and 12 high-ranking Directors of the CBN, could potentially face charges for the unlawful issuance of currency under section 19 of the CBN Act.
The naira redesign policy was reportedly presented to Buhari by Sabiu, without the board of the CBN’s approval.
According to the investigation, Buhari did not give his consent for the naira redesign.
In September 2022, it was Sabiu who initially suggested to Emefiele to contemplate the redesign of the naira.
Details revealed that on October 6, 2022, Emefiele communicated with Buhari expressing his desire to revamp and modify the N1000, N500, and N200 banknotes.
“The former President tagged along but did not approve the redesign as required by law. Buhari merely approved that the currency be printed in Nigeria. The redesign was only mentioned to the board of the CBN on December 15, 2022, after Emefiele had awarded the contract to the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc on October 31, 2022,” the documents noted.
According to reports, Emefiele reportedly awarded the contract for the redesign of the naira to De La Rue, a UK-based company, for a sum of £205,000. This decision was made after the Nigeria Security Printing Minting Corporation expressed its inability to meet the deadline for the project.
During the investigation, it was discovered that a total of N61.5 billion was allocated for the printing of the new notes, with N31.79 billion already disbursed.
As of August 9, 2023, it was found that N769 billion worth of the new notes were already in circulation.
The investigation conducted by the CBN also uncovered the deceitful utilization of N26.627 trillion through the Ways and Means of the Apex Bank, along with the improper handling of the COVID-19 intervention fund.
As an example, during the 661st meeting of the CBN under Emefiele on October 27, 2020, it was sanctioned that the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account should be charged with N124.860 billion, and this resolution was executed on October 9.
In a similar vein, the Committee of Governors, during its 670th meeting on December 9, 2020, provided anticipatory approval, “pending receipt of a formal request by Mr President and ratification by the board of directors the payment of the sum of N250 billion only to the Federal Government of Nigeria to address challenges as a result of low revenue inflow and the payment of salaries”.
The decision was implemented on December 15, 2020.
In addition, the committee of governors, during its 672nd meeting on December 30, 2020, provided another preliminary approval of N250 billion to the Federal Government for the purpose of paying salaries until a formal request is received by the President and ratified by the Board of Directors.
Furthermore, the Finance and General Purpose Committee of the apex bank also granted anticipatory approval for the investment of $200 million in equity warrants of the Africa Finance Corporation.
As per section 38 of the CBN Act, 2007, the CBN has the authority to provide temporary advances to the Federal Government to address temporary budget revenue deficiencies, subject to an interest rate.
The advance shall not be reimbursed through the means of a promissory note, securitization, or the issuance of treasury bills.
The provision also states that these advances must be repaid by the conclusion of the fiscal year in which they are given; otherwise, the CBN will be prohibited from granting such advances in the following year.
The CBN investigator uncovered that the CBN Ways and Means facility was exploited during the Buhari administration.
The document further said: “In an instance, they (senior CBN and government officials) padded what the former President Muhammadu Buhari approved with N198,963,162, 187. There are instances where no approvals are received from the former president and yet, N500 billion is taken and debited to Ways and Means.
“There are more shocking instances where the erstwhile CBN governor and his four deputy governors connived to steal outright in order to balance the books of the CBN.
“This was by violently taking money from the Consolidated Revenue account and then charging it to Ways and Means. It was a total of N124.860 billion. They even created the narration as a presidential subsidy and expanded the Ways and Means portfolio to accommodate crime.
“The CBN officers and even the then acting CBN governor could not produce the Presidential Approval of most of the expenses described as ‘Ways and Means.’ When confronted, to provide the breakdown of the supposed N22.7 trillion that was presented to the 9th National Assembly to illegally securitise as ‘Ways and Means’ financing, they were only able to partially explain a total of N9.063 trillion or N9.2 trillion depending on which official you are considering his submission and an unreasonable attribution of non-negotiated interest element of N6.5 trillion.
“This shows that this was the point where the officers of the immediate past administration as well as the erstwhile CBN governor and his four deputy governors connived, defrauded, and stole from the commonwealth of our country with the aid of civil servants.
“The true position of the Ways and Means as documented from the reconciliation between the CBN and the Ministry of Finance at the time is N4,449,149,411,584.54.
“This may have been the main reason the past administration hurriedly sought that the advances of N22.7 trillion be securitised by the 9th National Assembly on December 19, 2022, which they also hurriedly did despite the fact that it contravenes section 38 of the CBN Act, 2007.”
During Emefiele’s tenure, the CBN reportedly allocated a staggering N1.7 billion towards dubious legal fees for 19 lawsuits filed against the naira redesign policy.
Additionally, the investigator uncovered instances where Emefiele misrepresented the presidential endorsement for the NESI Stabilisation Strategy Limited, which was originally approved by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The document read: “The Presidential approval granted by then President Goodluck Jonathan was rightly stated by him. NESI should be a company limited by guarantee but the Committee of Governors misled the Board of the CBN by relying on non-existent advice by the office of Attorney-General and Minister of Justice to incorporate a company limited by shares for which the allotted share capital exceeded the authorised share capital (See 380th meeting of the Committee of Governors held in January in January 2015) and allotting unauthorised share capital to Mr Godwin Emefiele and Mr Mudashiru Olaitan without lawful approval by the President.
“N1.325 billion was stolen pre-incorporation and the money funnelled to four companies, including a legal firm which got N300 million.”
During the period from 2015 to 2021, an investment firm allegedly amassed a sum of N4.89 billion through unlawful means.
The detailed breakdown reveals that the company acquired N262 million in 2015, N464 million in 2016, N550 million in 2017, N726 million in 2018, N762 million in 2019, N684 million in 2020, and N1.44 billion in 2021, resulting in a cumulative total of N4.89 billion.
Emefiele is also accused of disbursing a sum of N17.2 billion to 14 deposit money banks that were involved in the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility.
The report said: “A total of 14 DMBs engaged in the manipulation by unlawfully arranging and collecting 1.9535 per cent of the total disbursements paid to the DMBs participating in the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility.
“The fees are paid to the banks in the ratio of their contributions to the NEMSF disbursement, according to External Auditor’s Notes to the Financial Statement of NESI Stabilisation Strategy Limited.
“The CBN also went further by authorising the issuance of debenture for the NESI SPV, starting with N64.8 billion in 2015. By 2021, N952 billion debenture had been issued. The investigator said the money was diverted from public funds.”
It has been discovered through the investigation that Emefiele may face trial for purportedly manipulating the naira exchange rate, deceitfully executing the e-naira project, and granting three foreign companies exemption from income tax payment.
In the meantime, the inquiry has revealed an unusual illicit withdrawal/theft of $6.23 million from the CBN vault by two individuals who utilized a forged presidential letter.
The individuals, presently under arrest, allegedly submitted a counterfeit letter on February 7 and 8, 2023, claiming to bear the signature of Buhari.
This letter was supposedly used to withdraw funds intended for foreign election observation missions.
