Report Of How Emefiele, Others Stashed Billions In 593 Accounts In US, UK, China Emerge

Report Of How Emefiele, Others Stashed Billions In 593 Accounts In US, UK, China Emerge

“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.”

According to investigator Jim Obazee, his findings in the United Kingdom revealed that Godwin Emefiele had 543.4 million pounds in fixed deposit accounts. Obazee alleged that Emefiele manipulated the Naira exchange rate and engaged in fraudulent activities related to the e-Naira project of the CBN.

The report also stated that the controversial redesign of the naira was not recommended by the CBN Board and was not approved by then-President Muhammadu Buhari, violating Section 19 (1) of the CBN Act, 2007.

Obazee highlighted that Emefiele failed to consult with the CBN management or seek recommendations from the CBN Board, as required by Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007.

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“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 highlighted that the former president, Muhammadu Buhari, did not explicitly approve the redesign as required by law; instead, he approved the printing of the currency in Nigeria. The redesign was reportedly only presented to the CBN Board on December 15, 2022, after the contract had already been awarded to the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc on October 31, 2022.

The cost of printing the new N200, N500, and N1000 notes amounted to N61.5 billion, with N31.8 billion paid to the contractor. Obazee noted that the total value of the new notes in circulation as of August was only N769.562 billion.

The investigator also pointed out questionable legal fees of N1,727,500,000 related to 19 cases directly associated with the Naira redesign and reconfiguration agenda.

Additionally, the investigator alleged that Emefiele and his deputies engaged in fraudulent activities related to the misapplication of the “Ways and Means” facility, amounting to N26.627 trillion. He further raised concerns about fraudulent intervention programs, questionable expenditures linked to COVID-19, and a misrepresentation of presidential approval regarding 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.

“It was a surprise, Mr President, that under the last administration, the noble outlet became a huge source of fraudulent drain pipe for the then Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, the erstwhile CBN Governor, all the four deputy CBN Governors (under the guise of COG), the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, the Accountant General of the Federation and even the then Chief of Staff, In an instance, they padded what the former President Muhammadu Buhari approved with N198,963,162,187 (approximating an approval of N801,036,937,813 to N1 trillion),” Obazee said.

“When confronted to provide the breakdown of the supposed N22,719,703,774,306.90 that was presented to the 9th National Assembly to illegally securitise the “Ways and Means” financing, they were only able to partially explain a total of N9,063,286,720,318.92 or N9,258,040,720,318.92 (depending on which official you are considering his submission) and an unreasonable attribution of non-negotiated/unadvised interest element of N6,678,874,321,541,97.

“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 the 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.”

Obazee revealed findings related to the embezzlement of $6.23 million from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s vault between February 7 and 8, just two weeks before the presidential and National Assembly elections. The funds were purportedly released under the pretext of a presidential approval for payment to foreign election observers.

The fraudulent withdrawal took place at the Foreign Payment Office, Abuja Branch, and was captured on CCTV footage.

The scheme allegedly began with a series of letters, starting with one dated January 23, 2023, titled “Presidential Directive on Foreign Election Observer Missions” (sic). The report suggested that the theft was orchestrated by Uzero Oghenefego, an official in the office, who “took steps, procured the dollar cash, and released it to persons yet to be fully identified.”

“As at date, Abdulwaheed Muhammed has admitted in a written statement that he acted in collaboration with one Bashirdeen Mohammed Maisanu, an assistant director in the Banking Supervision Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria and some persons he is yet to identify, to conceive and carry out the act of stealing the sum of $6.23 million out of the vault of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“A fraudulent cash withdrawal of $6.23 million perpetrated since February 8th 2023, was not discovered nor taken seriously till the 4th of December when a Request for Information was issued by the Office of the Special Investigator. There is therefore an appearance of concealment by officers …,”