From Victor Osula, Abuja
Special Investigator into the books of the immediate past regime at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Jim Obazee has unveiled a depth of massive looting of trillions of Naira from the nations treasury through the connivance of a triumvirate in the ex- President Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency.
They are the Minister of Finance, Hajia Zainab Ahmed, the Accountant General of the Federation, Idris Ahmed and ex – Governor Godwin Emefiele and his four deputy governors.
Obazee who was appointed by President Bola Tinubu, said is his report,“It was a surprise, Mr President, that under the last administration, the noble outlet, ( CBN), 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).”
On the redesign of the bank notes, Obazee, said the redesign “was neither recommended by the Board of the CBN nor approved by the then President, Muhammadu Buhari, in contravention of the provisions of Section 19 (1) of the CBN Act, 2007.”
Obazee’s report also faulted claims by President Buhari that he authorized the redesign, stating that the former CBN governor, Emefiele, did not consult with the management of the CBN nor seek any recommendation from the Board of the CBN as required by Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007.
“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), said Obazee.
He said “The idea was that of Mr Shonubi (claiming interwoven challenges) and Mr Godwin Emefiele designed and approved the currency on October 19, 2022.
“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.”
Obazee noted that the former president tagged along but did not approve the redesign as required by law, saying that “Buhari merely approved that the currency be printed in Nigeria.”
He added that 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.
Obazee added that “the sum of N1,727,500,000 was also spent on questionable legal fees on 19 cases that are directly traceable to the Naira redesign and reconfiguration agenda.”
According to him, Emefiele and his deputies were involved in fraudulent activities related to the misapplication of the “Ways and Means” facility.
“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.
Obazee noted that there are instances where no approvals are received from Buhari and yet, N500 billion is taken and debited to Ways and Means and that Emefiele and his four deputy Governors colluded to outrightly steal to balance the books of the CBN.
