The credibility of the investigation into the activities of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) under Mr. Godwin Emefiele, led by Mr. Jim Obazee, appointed by Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is being jeopardized by several past actions and decisions made by Obazee.
These actions are raising concerns about the impartiality and fairness of the investigation’s ultimate findings.
Jim Obazee, a former executive secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC), was appointed by Tinubu in July 2023 to investigate the CBN. He completed his assignment and submitted the report to the Presidency in December 2023.
However, the appointment drew criticism from various quarters even before the report was submitted, as many individuals expressed concern about the choice of such a “controversial” figure for such a “sensitive” assignment. Also, in October 2015, the Council, under Obazee, suspended the FRC number of Mr. Atedo Peterside, Chairman of Stanbic IBTC Bank. The Council cited infractions in the 2013-2014 financial statements of the bank as the reasons for its action.
READ ALSO: Missing Woman Found Dead At Boston Airport
Before the controversial actions above, Obazee was accused of sexual harassment by a lady called Abimbola Yakubu, who had worked with him as his personal assistant for three years. But he denied the allegation.
On January 9, 2017, however, the Muhammadu Buhari administration removed Obazee as the executive secretary of the FRC “with immediate effect”. That was about one year before the end of his second four-year tenure as helmsman of the Council. He was replaced with Mr. Adedotun Suleiman, a former Managing Partner/Director at Arthur Anderson, later Accenture.
His removal then was linked to his controversial enforcement of the code of corporate governance and alleged insubordination. His relationship with then Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Okechukwu Enelama, was said to be frosty.
Similarly, the removal of Obazee in 2017 was allegedly linked to the disappearance of some CBN documents at the FRC, as reported by Daily Trust.
Thus, after he submitted the report of his investigation on the CBN, some stakeholders criticised the report. Similarly, the embattled former CBN governor, Emefiele; the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, and some CBN board members also questioned some of the claims in the findings of the Obazee-led probe team.
“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), wrote to him (Obazee) in 2017 and asked him to return the CBN documents he took after he was sacked from the FRC, but he never did. Those documents may cast doubt in the CBN investigation,” said a source from the FRC, which Obazee oversaw for six years.
Others questioned how a man who was fired by former President Buhari had found himself back in the corridors of power.