- By Halimah Olamide
There are indications that an aide of the former President Muhammadu Buhari, Tunde Sabiu, was the originator of the Naira redesign project under the headship of former Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor, Godwin Emefiele. It was also reported that huge funds have been traced to foreign accounts operated by Emefiele as the special investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu opens the apex bank’s can of worms under the watch of Emefiele.
The probe document revealed that “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 the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc on October 31, 2022,’’ the documents noted. According to the probe report, no fewer than 593 bank accounts in the United States, United Kingdom, and China without the approval of the apex bank’s board of directors and the CBN Investment Committee were opened. Tinubu had in July this year, appointed Mr. Jim Obaze as the special investigator into the affairs of the bank under Emefiele. Emefiele was said to have contracted the redesign of the naira to De La Rue of the UK for £205, 000 pounds under the vote head of the Currency Operations Department after the NSPM said it could not deliver the contract within a short timeframe.
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.