Presidential aides deliberately leaked portions of the report by the Special Investigator on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with a view to further weaken Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the sacked Governor of the bank and also send warning signals to certain political appointees of the Buhari administration.
Right after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu won the presidential polls in February, Mr. Jim Obazee, the Special Investigator on the activities of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and related agencies met the then President-Elect at which meeting Obazee shared with him critical information and intelligence he has on the CBN and other appointees whose conduct were deemed inimical to the Nigerian economy.
Eventually President Tinubu named Obazee Special Investigator on the Central Bank of Nigeria and Related Entities.
Since then Obazee had filed an interim and comprehensive reports to the President on the outcome of his findings.
In the latest report, the investigator had, among other allegations, accused the immediate-past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, of allegedly operating 593 illegal United States, United Kingdom and China accounts without the approval of the apex bank’s board.
The investigator also claimed that N26trillion Ways and Means fraud under Emefiele was uncovered and that the ex-CBN governor lodged £543, 482,213 in fixed deposits in UK banks alone without authorisation.
According to the report, Emefiele used proxies to acquire Union Bank of Nigeria for Titan Trust Bank Limited, as well as Keystone Bank without any evidence of payment.
The report also asked President Tinubu to authorise the prosecution of Emefiele, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha a minister, and 14 other officials for their roles in the removal of $6.23 million cash from the bank’s cellar in Abuja.
Mustapha however denied the allegations, saying it is aimed at tarnishing his image.
Speaking with QUEST TIMES over the weekend, a senior government official who has been involved in the Emefiele saga said the report was leaked to the general public in order to further expose
Emefiele as he has failed to yield to some of the refunds he is still expected to make & other aspects of a “plea bargaining” options his lawyers are exploring with the government.
According to the Presidential source, rather than return all of the assets he illegally acquired, Emefiele has been using his incarceration in Kuje as a ploy to stall a proper review of the issues by claiming he can’t meet his bail conditions.
” Yes, many people have been asking why the report which is meant to be a top government secret was leaked and I can tell you it is deliberate. Those who leaked it did so to embarrass Emefiele and force his hands in order to return some of the illegally acquired assets at his disposal”.
” If you recall, Emefiele entered plea bargain with the federal government with him conceding to resign as CBN governor and then to return several assets to the federal government. In return some more serious charges were not tabled against him.”
He fulfilled the first part by resigning but he has been playing hard on the return of assets”.
” Rather than look for ways to return the assets, Emefiele has been using his detention in Kuje Correctional Centre as a cover, claiming he can’t meet his bail conditions. Those who leaked the report knows he can meet his conditions but doesn’t want to come out of Kuje, especially given the VIP treatment he has been given there as a prominent Nigerian”.
“Before, it was reported that Emefiele couldn’t meet his bail conditions and will spend Christmas in Kuje. How come it is now that the report was leaked, that he suddenly met his bail conditions?”.
Also the source added that the portions of the report leaked affected other Buhari appointees who collaborated with the CBN in perpetrating other infractions.
“The Presidency is sending signals to some of them based on what Obazee has discovered as some of the revelations were very shocking”.