An independent report has implicated the former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, alleging excessive spending of over N1.7 billion on legal fees related to lawsuits against the naira redesign policy implemented during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
According to The PUNCH’s report on Friday, Emefiele’s expenditure on legal fees for 19 cases associated with the policy raised questions. The report also highlighted a disbursement of N1.325 billion for what was described as “stolen pre-incorporation” funds, directed to four companies, including one legal firm receiving N300 million.
Between 2015 and 2021, an investment company reportedly received a total of N4.89 billion through unlawful means. The breakdown showed disbursements of N262 million in 2015, N464 million in 2016, N550 million in 2017, N726 million in 2018, N762 million in 2019, N684 million in 2020, and N1.44 billion in 2021, summing up to N4.89 billion.
Furthermore, the report alleged Emefiele’s payment of N17.2 billion to 14 deposit money banks participating in the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility.
The lawsuits against Emefiele on the policy were brought by eight states, including Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara, Ekiti, Kano, and Ondo, contesting the deadlines for the use of old Naira notes. These legal actions stemmed from citizens’ challenges due to the policy’s impact on their lives, the practicality of the deadlines, and the policy’s constitutionality.
Another litigant, Lagos-based lawyer Tope Alabi, sought to initiate contempt proceedings against the former CBN governor via an ex parte motion filed in the Federal High Court in Lagos. Alabi accused Emefiele of alleged disobedience of Supreme Court orders concerning the naira redesign policy.
Describing the naira swap as a “cash confiscation policy,” he said it had affected the day-to-day running of his office as his staff could not make it to work daily due to the non-availability of physical cash, adding that commercial drivers “do not have a point of sale device/machine to collect fares.”
The lawyer filed a 28-page affidavit in support of his application wherein he claimed that the Supreme Court on March 10, in Suit No. SC. 162/2023, “directed Emefiele to make available and allow the old naira notes of N200, N500, and N1000 to co-exist as legal tender with the new N200, N500, and N1000 notes till December 2023.”
“The respondent who had withdrawn N200, N500 and 1000 old notes from circulation on 10 February 2023 has refused to comply with the Order of the Supreme Court made on 10 March 2023 till date by releasing the old notes to circulation.”
The document also stated, “The CBN also went further by authorising the issuance of debenture for the NESI SPV, starting with N64.8bn in 2015. By 2021, N952bn debenture had been issued. The investigator said the money was diverted from public funds.’’
It was further gathered that Emefiele could be tried for alleged manipulation of the naira exchange rate, fraudulent implementation of the e-naira project, and exemption of three foreign firms from paying income tax.
