Nigeria’s embattled former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has been accused of illegally lodging billions of naira in at least 593 bank accounts in the United States, United Kingdom, and China during his time as Nigeria’s apex bank chief.
The allegation was contained in the audit report from President Bola Tinubu’s Special Investigator on the CBN and Related Entities, Jim Obaze.
The report also found that the ex-CBN governor lodged £543,482,213 in fixed deposits in UK banks alone without authorization.
According to a portion of the report, Godwin Emefiele invested Nigerian funds in 593 foreign bank accounts in the United States, China, and the United Kingdom without authorization while he was in charge.
“All the accounts where the billions were lodged have all been traced by the investigator.”
In August, Emefiele and two others were accused of purchasing a fleet of over 98 exotic cars and armoured buses valued at approximately N6.9 billion, according to the charges signed by the Federal Ministry of Justice’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Mohammed Abubakar, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Mrs N. Jones-Nebo, and eight other ministry officials.
He is presently detained in Kuje Custodial Centre. The N300 million bail that was given to him by a Federal Capital Territory High Court on November 22 has not been perfected, but a fresh revelation from the Obaze report suggests the former chief-banker might be in for another round of criminal charges.
The investigator also discovered that former President Buhari did not approve the redesign of the naira; rather, it was his aide, Tunde Sabiu, who advised Emefiele to consider the naira’s redesign.
“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 Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc on October 31, 2022,’’ the report noted.