EFCC Uncovers Emefiele’s Alleged N18 Billion Scandal in N100 Note Printing

Investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has revealed alleged financial misconduct by Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The EFCC’s probe uncovered that Emefiele authorized the printing of one billion N100 banknotes and the production of 5,000 acrylic blocks for Nigeria’s centenary celebration in October 2014 at an inflated cost of N18.91 billion.

Sources within the EFCC disclosed that Emefiele bypassed the CBN Board and sought direct approval from then-President Goodluck Jonathan for this project, allegedly violating the CBN Act of 2007. The Act mandates that currency issuance requires Board approval based on the President’s recommendation.

The contract, valued at $121.66 million (around N18.91 billion at the time), was awarded to Crane Currency, a Swedish company known for banknote printing. An advance payment of $72.99 million was made to Crane’s Nigerian subsidiary, but only $39.85 million was reportedly transferred. The remaining $32.72 million was converted to Naira at a rate of N162 per dollar, with the excess funds amounting to N5.3 billion allegedly misappropriated.

Investigators believe that these funds were shared among top officials within the CBN and their associates. So far, the EFCC has recovered N3.18 billion from those implicated in the scheme.

EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale confirmed that the investigation is ongoing but refrained from providing further details. Attempts to contact Emefiele for his comments were unsuccessful.