According to Jim Obazee, Special Investigator on the Central Bank of Nigeria and Related Entities, the current naira redesign was not expressly approved by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to Obazee, the approval came from Buhari’s aide, Sabiu Tunde ‘Yusuf’.
This was stated in the investigator’s final report, titled “Report of the Special Investigation on CBN and Related Entities (Chargeable Offenses),” which was delivered to President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday.
Remember that Tinubu named Obazee, a former Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, as the CBN special investigator in a letter dated July 28, 2023, which The PUNCH obtained.
How…
According to the allegation, the beleaguered former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, implemented the scheme in partnership with Sabiu.
According to reports, Emefiele, who is now being held at the Kuje Custodial Centre, is being prosecuted for N1.2 billion in procurement fraud.
He is yet to complete the N300m bail given to him by the Federal Capital Territory High Court on November 22, 2023.
Documents received by our correspondent on Thursday, however, showed that the former apex bank governor may face new criminal charges in connection with the handling of the CBN’s naira redesign strategy.
It is possible that Emefiele will be “prosecuted for illegal issuance of currency under Section 19 of the CBN Act alongside Tunde Sabiu and the 12 top directors of the CBN.”
According to reports, the naira redesign policy was pitched to Buhari at the request of Sabiu, and the effort was carried out without the consent of the CBN board.
Buhari did not endorse the redesign of the naira.
According to the investigation, Buhari did not approve of the naira makeover. Tunde Sabiu was the first to advise Emefiele in September 2022 to consider redesigning the naira.
“On October 6, 2022, Emefiele wrote to Buhari, requesting that the N1000, N500, and N200 notes be redesign and reconfigured.”
“The former president went along for the ride but did not approve the redesign as required by law.” Buhari simply authorized the printing of the money in Nigeria. The makeover was only mentioned to the CBN board in December. Whereas, the was contract was given to Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc on October 31, 2022,” according to the records.
Emefiele was believed to have contracted the redesign of the naira to De La Rue of the UK for £205,000 after Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc indicated it could not deliver the deal in a timely manner.
It also stated that “the special investigator discovered that N61.5 billion was earmarked for the printing of the new notes, of which N31.79 billion had been paid.”
“As of August 9, 2023, investigations revealed that N769 billion in new notes were in circulation.”
“The CBN investigation also revealed the fraudulent use of the Apex Bank’s N26.627tn Ways and Means, as well as the misuse of the COVID-19 intervention fund.”
For example, during its 661st meeting on October 27, 2020, the CBN under Emefiele approved debiting the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account with N124.860 billion, and the decision was implemented on October 9.
“Similarly, at its 670th meeting on December 9, 2020, the Committee of Governors granted ‘anticipatory approval’ pending receipt of a formal request from Mr President and ratification by the board of directors for the payment of N250 billion only to the Federal Government of Nigeria to address challenges caused by low revenue inflow and salary payments.”
“The decision was implemented on December 15, 2020. Under the Buhari administration, the CBN Ways and Means was exploited, according to the CBN investigation.
Kluemedia reports reveals that under the CBN Act, the Ways and Means provision allows the government to borrow from the apex bank if it needs short-term or emergency finance to fund delayed government expected cash receipts of fiscal deficits.
Meanwhile, The Kluemedia earlier gathered that it cost the CBN and its subsidiary about N74.84bn to produce and roll out currencies, including new naira notes, in 2022.
Despite the scarcity of naira that plagued the country in the latter months of 2022, the CBN spent 40.42 per cent more than the N53.29bn it spent in the preceding year to roll out currencies.
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