Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has vehemently refuted and denounced the allegations made against him in a report by the Special Investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu. Emefiele, in a strongly worded statement released on Sunday, labeled the accusations as “satanic, baseless, defamatory, and false,” further asserting his intent to pursue legal recourse to clear his name from what he termed as “defamatory statements.”
The embattled former CBN Governor denied a series of allegations put forth by the private investigator, Jim Obazee. Emefiele disclaimed the claim that he had deposited billions of naira in foreign currencies across 593 bank accounts in various countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, and China, without requisite approval from the apex bank’s board of directors and the CBN Investment Committee.
In a statement titled “Re: Emefiele, others stole billions, illegally kept Nigeria’s funds in foreign banks,” released on Sunday night and confirmed by one of his lawyers, Maxwell Okpara, Emefiele countered the allegations presented in the investigator’s report. The report, allegedly submitted to President Tinubu, accused Emefiele of unauthorized actions, including the opening of numerous foreign bank accounts, notably holding £543, 482,213 in fixed deposits in UK banks alone.
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Furthermore, the report claimed that the recent redesign of the naira was not explicitly endorsed by former President Muhammadu Buhari and alleged that the idea for the redesign came from Buhari’s aide, Sabiu Tunde Yusuf. It purported that Emefiele had overseen the redesign, involving a fee of £205,000 and only minor alterations to the N1,000, N500, and N200 notes.
Responding to these accusations, Emefiele refuted the claims, emphasizing that he provided evidence of presidential approval for the naira redesign during the investigation, in the presence of senior CBN officials and the investigator’s team. He reiterated President Buhari’s stated authorization of the redesign on multiple occasions, expressing confusion over the investigator’s assertion of a lack of presidential approval.
Additionally, Emefiele contested allegations of a $6.23 million withdrawal from the CBN vault, purportedly based on a falsified presidential directive bearing the signatures of Buhari and the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha. Emefiele claimed ignorance of such a directive, challenging the investigator to release the alleged documents and statements made during their interactions.
Regarding the 593 foreign accounts, Emefiele explicitly stated non-involvement and lack of knowledge about their creation or the fixed deposits associated with them. He affirmed that the relevant CBN departments hold the authority to undertake such actions within their lawful mandate, distancing himself from any involvement.
The former CBN head who was just released from prison on bail, while reiterating the demand for a transparent investigation into the alleged frauds, announced his decision to pursue legal action to clear his name from the damaging accusations contained in the report and subsequent publications.
Emefiele’s statement reads: “Because of my present situation, I have been advised by my lawyers not to say anything in respect of the matters which have been submitted to the court for adjudication.
“However, I need to address some of the issues raised in the publication which are barefaced lies told by the investigator in order to achieve his satanic agenda,” Emefiele said.
“First, it was reported that contrary to the provision of the CBN Act 2007, there was no presidential approval for the naira redesign.
“I wish to state unequivocally that there was indeed a presidential approval, and the said approval was handed over to the same Jim Obazee during the process of his investigation in the presence of senior CBN officials and his own investigative team.
“Moreover, the former President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR has stated on a number of occasions that he authorized and approved the naira redesign. I am therefore at a loss as to why Mr. Jim Obazee will mislead Nigerians that there was no presidential approval.
“The report also claimed that the sum of 6.23 million dollars was withdrawn from the CBN vault based on a false presidential directive bearing the signature of the former president Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, and that of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha.
“About two weeks ago, Jim Obazee, in the company of a certain Deputy Commissioner of Police from Force CID, came to Kuje to ask me questions in respect of the said document in the presence of my lawyers.
“I stated verbally and in writing that I have no knowledge of such directive from the former president and the former SGF. In fact, I told them that that was the first time I would be seeing the documents. On this, I challenge Jim Obazee to publish the said documents and also the statements that I made to them.
“The final issue that I would like to respond to is the issue of the 593 accounts which were purportedly opened in different parts of the world. I state categorically that I am not involved in the opening of these accounts and I do not have knowledge of their openings. The fixed deposits in those foreign accounts are definitely outside my knowledge.
“However, let me state clearly that the relevant departments of the CBN have the authority to carry out such activities in line with their lawful mandate within the CBN.
I, therefore, join well-meaning Nigerians who have spoken on this matter and have demanded a thorough and transparent investigation of all these alleged frauds.
“Meanwhile, I have instructed my lawyers to immediately commence legal process to clear my name from the defamatory statements contained in the report and by extension the publications,” the former CBN chief stated.