Emefiele spent N18bn to print N1bn – EFCC investigation

Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele

Emefiele spent N18bn to print N1bn – EFCC investigation

A fresh investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has uncovered how ex-Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, reportedly spent N18 billion to print just N1 billion worth of banknotes.

This was said to have involved the printing of one billion N100 banknotes and 5000 acrylic blocks for Nigeria’s centenary celebration in October 2014.

It was learnt that Emefiele bypassed the CBN board, and obtained approval from former President Goodluck Jonathan without following due process.

The contract, awarded to Swedish company Crane Currency on September 17, 2014, was inflated to $121,660,000.00 (N18,911,524,842.62).

It was also learnt that the company supplied the CBN with banknote printing and other currency-related services.

An advance payment of $72,996,000.00 was made in breach of established practices. The report said only $39,848,991.90 was transferred, with the balance of $32,716,050.00 converted to Naira and shared among top officials.

The withheld amount of $32,716,050.00 was converted to Naira and transferred to the Nigerian subsidiary of the Swedish company, totalling N5.3 billion. This amount is believed to represent the excess funds generated by the inflated contract, which was allegedly used to enrich top officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria and their accomplices.

A report by Vanguard quoted one investigator as saying, “The contract was deliberately overpriced to benefit specific individuals within and outside the bank, resulting in a windfall of N5.3 billion.”

It is understood that N5.3 billion was initially distributed among the parties involved in the inflated contract.

However, the EFCC has since recovered N3,180,236,254.42 from those implicated in the scam. Despite this, there are reportedly efforts to pressure the EFCC Chairman to return the recovered funds to the accused individuals, who claim that the money was earned through legitimate means.

EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, admitted that the agency was investigating the matter. However, he did not give details, saying, “I cannot disclose further details as our team is still actively working on the case.”