The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has initiated a fresh legal action against the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, filing charges at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.
According to the charge sheets obtained, EFCC alleges that Emefiele approved the printing of N684,590,000 at a rate of N18.96 billion, and accuses him of violating the law with the intent to harm the public during his implementation of the naira swap policy of the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Additionally, the anti-graft agency accuses Emefiele of unlawfully approving the withdrawal of N124.8 billion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.
The document, dated April 2, 2024, and marked Suit No: CR/264/2024, was filed by EFCC’s top prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, revealing that Emefiele will face a new four-count charge before Justice Hamza Muazu.
These charges include disobeying the law to the detriment of Nigerians, illegal money printing, abuse of office, and other related offenses.
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Counts one to four of the charge, read, “STATEMENT OF OFFENCE: Public Servant disobeying direction of law with intent to cause injury to the public contrary to and punishable under Section 123 of the Penal Code Law, Cap. 89 Laws of the Federation, 1990.
“PARTICULARS OF THE OFFENCE: That you GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE between the 19th day of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007, by approving the printing of N375,520,000.00 pieces of colour swapped N1, 000, at the total cost of N11,052, 068,062 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.”
“COUNT 2: “That you, GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE, between the 19th of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, by approving the printing of 172,000,000 pieces of colour swapped N500 (Five Hundred Naira) Notes, at the total cost of N4, 471,066,040 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.
“COUNT 3: “That you GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE between the 19th day of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007, by approving the printing of 137,070,000 pieces of colour swapped N200 (Two Hundred Naira) Note, at the total cost of N3, 441, 005, 280 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.”
“COUNT 4: “That you, GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE, on or about the 7th day of October 2020, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 80 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended), by approving the withdrawal of the total sum of N124, 860, 227, 865.16 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation in a manner not prescribed by the National Assembly, which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.”
Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, was previously arraigned on November 18, 2023, facing six counts of procurement fraud. This case stands out as one of the most prominent corruption trials during President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s tenure.
Among the accusations leveled against him was the abuse of his office through the approval of a contract for the procurement of 43 vehicles totaling N1.2 billion between 2018 and 2020.
Subsequently, on Monday, April 8, 2024, the EFCC brought Emefiele, along with one Henry Omoile, before Justice R.A. Oshodi of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos. They were charged with an alleged fraud amounting to $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion.
