‘Buhari Didn’t Approve It’ – Investigator Alleges How Emefiele, Deputies Increased Self Salaries, Operated Secret Reserves

In his report to President Bola Tinubu, the CBN Special Investigator, Jim Obazee, alleged that former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, and his ex-deputies took it upon themselves to increase their salaries without obtaining the necessary approval from former President Muhammadu Buhari and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.

This decision was made during the 758th meeting of the Committee of Governors held on September 14, 2022.

President Tinubu appointed Obazee as the CBN special investigator in a letter dated July 28, 2023, and it was through his investigation that these findings were brought to light.

There were a series of reports earlier on how Emefiele while as a CBN governor, allegedly deposited public funds in 593 bank accounts in the United States, United Kingdom, and China without the approval of the apex bank’s board of directors and the CBN Investment Committee.

Naija News reports that this revelation has raised concerns that the special investigator’s findings may have added ‘salt to the wounds’ of the CBN governor, who is already facing prosecution for N1.2 billion procurement fraud.

In his report, Obazee recommended that Emefiele, along with the Deputy CBN governors and directors, should face charges for multiple criminal offences.

“The then CBN governor and his Committee of Governors held their 758th meeting on September 14, 2022, and approved for themselves upward review of salaries (referred to as annual pay parity in US dollars), sitting allowances, air tickets, and incidental expenses of the board and Monetary Policy Committee members.

“This was carried out without the approval of the President nor in consultation with the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission. The Secretary to the Board of the CBN kept mute over this development and the board members looked the other way,’ Obazee alleged in his report.

The report also emphasized the alleged practice of the apex financial institution printing money and utilizing it for its own purposes, emphasizing that there was no legal provision for such actions.

It indicated that the bank’s financial statements did not align with its various financial interventions, implying that under Emefiele’s leadership, the CBN maintained undisclosed secret reserves whose whereabouts were only known to the bank and not disclosed in its financial statements.

Speaking further on the allegation, Obazee said: “For instance, the huge liquidity intervention in the banking sector by the CBN from 2014 to date was not derived from the operational income stream of the CBN.

“On request, the CBN officials could not show the source of this fund. It is observed that the CBN determines the financial reporting standards; it ended up mixing up cash basis with cash accruals in its accounting system.

“The bank’s statement of account cash flow in the audited financial statements fails to show the source and application of the huge banking sector intervention and other 43 intervention programmes in several trillions of naira from 2014.

“The overflow of this in subsequent years is indicative since the opening balance of one year is logically the ending balance of the preceding year. In situations like this, the only explanation is that money was printed by the CBN and same was converted to its own use.’’

However, Emefiele’s counsel, Matthew Burkaa, SAN, has not yet responded to the claims against his client as of the time of filing this report.