By our Special Correspondent
Palpable fear and panic have gripped leading banks’ chief executives and top industry chieftains as the Special Investigative team on the Central Bank of Nigeria and other allied entities is set to turn in its interim report to President Bola Tinubu.
On July 28, 2023, President Tinubu named the Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, Mr Jim Obazee, as the Special Investigator, to investigate the activities of the Central Bank of Nigeria under its former governor, Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele.
ThisNigeria reports exclusively that some of the banks and industry players have been making “frantic moves to reach out to top aides of the President in the Villa to find a soft landing for them.”
This came as the embattled former CBN governor, according to reliable sources, had mentioned some of the bank chiefs as either beneficiaries of the sleaze funds or were accessories who facilitated the disbursement of the monies under investigation.
Some of the banks’ chiefs, who benefitted from the Anchor Borrowers scheme and business moguls involved in dollar round-tripping, it was gathered, had earlier trailed the President’s entourage to Paris, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as Saudi Arabia when he visited, to see if they could stop the Special Investigator from including them among those to be arraigned for prosecution.
Presidency sources say the President washed his hands off the case because “it is a matter solely for the Special Investigator and his team, and he is unlikely to interfere.”
“They should be ready to defend their actions if called upon,” said the source
The Federal Government had last week arraigned Emefiele on a six-count charge bordering on alleged procurement fraud. The original charge, which was 20 counts to the tune of N6.5bn, was reduced to six, to the tune of N1.6bn. Emefiele, who is the only defendant in the new charge, has been remanded at Kuje Prisons.
However, ThisNigeria learnt from another source that the N1.6bn is just the tip of the iceberg, adding that unassailable Investigations may have uncovered massive fraud by the embattled CBN governor to the tune of N3trn
“The N1.6bn that Emefiele is being charged for is the tip of the iceberg which the EFCC has arraigned him for. It is a slap on the wrist as what the Special Investigator may have uncovered is up to the tune of N3trn,” he disclosed.
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*Over N3trn reportedly siphoned through COVID-19 and Anchor Borrowers funds
Another top CBN source told this newspaper that Emefiele allegedly misappropriated monies largely from the COVID-19 funds and the Anchor Borrowers scheme.
“There were others including foreign exchange manipulation, abuse of extant rules of the CBN, among other shady and shadowy deals,” he added.
*Report reveals how ex-CBN boss operated over 300 accounts without BVN, through family members and proxies
The embattled CBN governor, it was learnt, was linked with over 300 bank accounts, most of them without Bank Verification Numbers (BVN).
“Some of the names were those of close members of his family,” he disclosed.
ThisNigeria further learnt that the main subhead through which the fraud was perpetuated by the ex-CBN governor was ’Ways and Means’
*Embattled ex-bank chief ‘willing to refund billions’
Another security source said Emefiele has agreed to refund some billions of naira as a plea bargain.
“He is willing to refund some money to secure a plea bargain, but I can’t give you a figure. Even what he wants to return is a scratch from what we believe he owns.”
Meanwhile, during the October 1 Independence Day national broadcast to mark the nation’s 63rd anniversary, President Tinubu confirmed that findings on past lapses in the apex bank would soon be out.
In his address, Tinubu said, “I pledged a thorough housecleaning of the den of malfeasance the CBN had become. That housecleaning is well underway.
“A new leadership for the Central Bank has been constituted. Also, my special investigator will soon present his findings on past lapses and how to prevent similar reoccurrences.”
Efforts to reach the Special Investigator or any member of his team to confirm our findings before going to press were unsuccessful
“We don’t know what you have gathered. But you don’t expect the team to give you their report. When they are ready with the interim report, it will be submitted to His Excellency, Mr President”, a source close to the team, replied curtly to our inquiries.
