A fresh investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has unveiled how Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), allegedly spent N18 billion on printing one billion pieces of N100 banknotes and producing 5,000 pieces of acrylic blocks, according to PREMIUM TIMES.
The N100 notes and acrylic blocks, which are used for photopolymer stamping, were produced to commemorate Nigeria’s centenary celebration in October 2014. Sources within the EFCC revealed that Mr. Emefiele bypassed the Central Bank’s board by directly seeking approval from then-President Goodluck Jonathan on September 1, 2014, for this expenditure, contrary to the requirements of the CBN Act, 2007.
According to findings, Section 19(1)(b) of the CBN Act, 2007, stipulates that currency notes and coins issued by the CBN must be approved by the President on the recommendation of the CBN Board. However, Emefiele sought the President’s approval first and only later presented the decision to the Board for ratification.
The contract for printing one billion pieces of the N100 banknotes and producing 5,000 acrylic blocks was awarded to Crane Currency, a Swedish company, for $121,660,000.00 (N18.9 billion at the time). The award process allegedly favored this specific company, which had a history of providing currency-related services to the CBN.
The contract was finalized on September 17, 2014, with an advance payment of $72.9 million, representing 60% of the total contract amount. This payment, channeled through the Currency Operations Department of the CBN, violated the standard procedure, which mandates major currency contracts be paid through a letter of credit.
Although the records show $72.9 million was allocated to Crane Currency, investigators discovered that only $39.8 million was actually transferred to the company. The remaining $32.7 million was converted to Naira at N162 per dollar and moved to the Nigerian subsidiary of the Swedish company, amounting to N5.3 billion.
“This N5.3 billion represents the inflated portion of the contract, designed to benefit certain CBN officials and their collaborators,” an EFCC investigator stated. The funds were allegedly shared among those involved in the scam. The EFCC has so far recovered N3.18 billion from the indicted individuals, although there have been pressures on the EFCC Chairman to release the funds, with claims that they were proceeds from legitimate transactions.
EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale confirmed that the agency is investigating the case but declined to provide further information, stating, “There is nothing I can tell you at this point because our people are still working on the matter.”
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