Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has strongly refuted allegations of corruption and theft made in a recent report by the special investigation panel on CBN and other entities, led by private investigator Jim Obazee.
The report, submitted to President Bola Tinubu after a six-month probe into the activities of the CBN under Emefiele, accused the former governor of serious acts of corruption, including approving the naira redesign policy without presidential approval and withdrawing $6.23 million from the CBN vault.
Emefiele, who recently spent a month in the Kuje correctional facility for procurement fraud, responded to the allegations in a detailed statement released on Sunday.
In the statement titled “Re: Emefiele, others stole billions, illegally kept Nigeria’s funds in foreign banks,” Emefiele dismissed the findings as “false, misleading, and calculated to disparage” his character.
Emefiele challenged Obazee to publish the alleged forged presidential directive and his statements denying knowledge of it. He emphasized that the presidential approval for the naira redesign did exist and was provided to Obazee during the investigation.
“I have gone through the publications, and I say boldly that the contents of the said publications are false, misleading, and calculated to disparage my person, injure my character, and serve the selfish interest of the private investigator,” Emefiele stated.
While acknowledging legal advice to refrain from commenting on matters before the court, Emefiele addressed some key issues raised in the publication. He emphasized that there was indeed a presidential approval for the naira redesign, handed over during the investigation. He further challenged Obazee to publish the alleged documents supporting the claims.
Regarding the accusation of a $6.23 million withdrawal from the CBN vault based on a false presidential directive, Emefiele stated that he had no knowledge of such a directive and challenged Obazee to make the documents public.
On the issue of 593 offshore bank accounts and the alleged illegal depositing of billions of naira, Emefiele categorically stated, “I am not involved in the opening of these accounts, and I do not have knowledge of their openings.” He clarified that the relevant departments of the CBN had the authority to carry out such activities within their lawful mandate.
Emefiele called for a “thorough and transparent investigation of all alleged frauds” and announced his intention to commence legal action to clear his name “from the defamatory statements contained in the report and by extension the publications.”
