- It was Tunde Sabiu who first told Emefiele in September 2022 to consider the redesign of the naira
The recent redesign of the naira reportedly lacked explicit approval from former President Muhammadu Buhari, according to Jim Obazee, the Special Investigator on the Central Bank of Nigeria and Related Entities.
Obazee’s final report, titled ‘Report of the Special Investigation on CBN and Related Entities (Chargeable Offences),’ submitted to President Bola Tinubu, highlighted that the authorization for the redesign seemed to have originated from Buhari’s aide, Sabiu Tunde ‘Yusuf’.
Appointed by Tinubu in July 2023, Obazee, a former Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, uncovered that the implementation of the redesign was attributed to the embattled former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, in collaboration with Sabiu, who happens to be the former President’s nephew.
Emefiele, currently held at the Kuje Custodial Centre due to a N1.2bn procurement fraud case, faces difficulties in securing his N300m bail, granted by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory on November 22, 2023. Recent documents suggest that Emefiele might encounter additional criminal charges related to the management of the CBN naira redesign policy.
Emefiele could 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.”
The investigator found that Buhari didn’t approve of the naira redesign. It was Tunde Sabiu who first told Emefiele in September 2022 to consider the redesign of the naira.
“On October 6, 2022, Emefiele wrote to Buhari that he wanted to redesign and reconfigure the N1000, N500, and N200 notes.
“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 documents noted.
Emefiele was said to have contracted the redesign of the naira to De La Rue of the UK for £205,000 under the vote of the head of the Currency Operations Department after Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc said it could not deliver the contract within a short timeframe.
It further showed that “the special investigator found that N61.5bn was earmarked for the printing of the new notes, out of which N31.79bn had been paid.
“As of August 9, 2023, findings revealed that N769bn of the new notes were in circulation.
“The probe of the CBN also revealed the fraudulent use of N26.627tn Ways and Means of the Apex Bank as well as the misuse of the COVID-19 intervention fund.
“For instance, the CBN under Emefiele at its 661st meeting held on October 27, 2020, approved that the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account should be debited with the sum of N124.860bn, and the decision was implemented on October 9.
“Similarly, the Committee of Governors, at its 670th meeting held on December 9, 2020, granted ‘anticipatory approval’ pending receipt of a formal request by Mr President and ratification by the board of directors for the payment of the sum of N250bn only to the Federal Government of Nigeria to address challenges as a result of low revenue inflow and the payment of salaries.
“The decision was implemented on December 15, 2020.”