Godwin Emefiele.
The former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, reportedly put billions of naira in around 593 bank accounts in the United States, United Kingdom, and China.
According to Jim Obaze, a special investigator for President Bola Tinubu, Emefiele allegedly opened these accounts without getting approval from the CBN’s Board of Directors and Investment Committee. Obaze also revealed that Emefiele deposited a whopping 543,482,213 in fixed deposits in UK banks alone, and this was done without proper authorization.
This information is found in Obaze’s final report called ‘Report of the Special Investigation on CBN and Related Entities (Chargeable Offences),’ which he submitted to Tinubu.
The reports read, “The former governor of the CBN invested Nigeria’s money without authorisation in 593 foreign accounts in the United States, China and the United Kingdom while he was in charge.
“All the accounts where the billions were lodged have all been traced by the investigator, In the UK alone, Emefiele kept £543,482, 213 in fixed deposits without authorization by the CBN board and the Investment Committee of the bank.”
The ex-CBN governor is now in Kuje prison, having been charged by the Nigerian Government for an alleged N1.2 billion procurement fraud. Although the Federal Capital Territory High Court granted him bail of N300 million, he hasn’t been able to fulfill the requirements for release.