IRONY: New documents allege Emefiele spent N18bn to print N1bn worth of notes

…Powerful allies of ex-CBN governor claim funds recovered by EFCC

BY ORIAKU IJELE & BARTH EZE

An influential group of individuals who benefited from the former Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, is mounting pressure to see that the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, returns back the loot allegedly recovered from the embattled CBN governor, with claims that the funds are legitimate, even as fresh documents have implicated Emefiele with spending a whooping N18bn to print N1bn worth of currency notes.

Sunday Times learnt that the new discoveries were transacted during the ex-president Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in 2014, when the CBN printed one billion N100 notes and 5,000 acrylic blocks for Nigeria’s Centenary celebration.

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According to the EFCC, Emefiele overruled the CBN Board, and sought approval directly from former President Goodluck Jonathan, without following by due process.

According to the CBN Act, the action is contrary to Section 19(1)(b) of the CBN Act, 2007, which mandates that currency notes must be designed and approved by the President only upon the Board’s recommendation.

It was gathered that Emefiele secured Jonathan’s approval before even presenting the plan to the Board.

He unilaterally awarded the contract to Swedish firm Crane Currency on September 17, 2014, and it was grossly inflated to huge sum of $121,660,000.00 (approximately N18.9 billion).

He also made an advance payment of $72,996,000.00, which is also contrary to the established fiscal protocols.

EFCC operatives revealed that only $39,848,991.90 was actually transferred, with the remaining $32,716,050.00 converted to Naira and distributed among top officials.

It was gathered that the withheld sum of $32,716,050.00 was siphoned into the Nigerian subsidiary of the Swedish company, amounting to N5.3 billion.

According to officials of the EFCC, the alleged sum which was looted is suspected to be used for settling the cabals in the CBN and their government cronies in the presidency of Jonathan and Buhari governments.

Sunday Times equally learnt that the contract was manipulatively overpriced to benefit the cabals which made it to a windfall of N5.3 billion.

When the money was allegedly tracked it was revealed that the N5.3 billion was shared among those complicit in the scandal.

Despite the infractions, the EFCC has managed to recover N3,180,236,254.42 from those involved and this monies are what those involved are putting pressure on the EFCC Chairman to return the recovered funds to the accused, who assert that they earned the money legitimately.

Head, Media and Publicity and the spokesperson of the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, said investigation is still ongoing and cannot disclose further information.