Obazee: Emefiele benefitted from $6.23m theft at CBN Abuja branch

Special Investigator tells FCT High Court fraud left CBN account N2.8bn in deficit, faults exclusion of Buhari, Mustapha_

President Bola Tinubu’s Special Investigator, Jim Osayande Obazee, told the FCT High Court on Friday that former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele benefited from the theft of $6.23 million from the apex bank’s Abuja branch — a transaction he said had no approval, no documentation, and left the CBN account in a massive deficit.

Obazee, appointed by President Tinubu in July 2023 to probe malfeasance at the CBN and related agencies, testified before Justice Hamza Muazu in the ongoing trial where Emefiele faces EFCC charges of criminal breach of trust, forgery, and abuse of office. Emefiele has pleaded not guilty.

—“A Banker Cannot Leave With An Unbalanced Account”—

Obazee, former executive secretary of the Nigerian Accounting Standards Board, said his investigation found that Emefiele approved the release of $6.23m without due process.

“Benefit can be described as an action or inaction that leads to an outcome resulting in profit,” Obazee stated.

“As CBN governor, Emefiele was responsible under the CBN Act 2007 for ensuring robust internal controls. The failure to detect or prevent this fraudulent transaction implied complicity.”

He added that as a former GMD of Zenith Bank, Emefiele knew better.

“Forex’s departure on February 8 left the account in an abnormal negative state that should have been flagged. A banker cannot leave the bank with an unbalanced account.”

—How The Fraud Was Executed—

According to Obazee, the CBN’s BVN portal at the Abuja branch had been inactive for over a month before the withdrawal, making identity verification impossible.

He also linked Emefiele’s personal assistant, Eric Odoh, to the scheme, alleging that Odoh facilitated the employment of his driver and gatekeeper at the CBN, who later processed documents for the $6.23m withdrawal.

Obazee told the court that several fraudulent authorisation letters were used. The transaction, he said, had “no economic benefit to the federal government, the CBN, or any recognised election observer mission.”

Crucially, the withdrawal was omitted from both the CBN’s 2022 audited financial statements and internal audit reports. The account used ended with a negative balance of N2,858,150,196.42.

“There was no approval or authority for the release of the US dollars. That is why, when the dollars were released, the account went into a negative balance,” Obazee said.

—“Charge Buhari, Mustapha Too”—

Obazee faulted the prosecution for focusing only on Emefiele. He said others including former SGF Boss Mustapha and even the late President Muhammadu Buhari should face charges.

He testified that Mustapha did not deny signing the letter requesting the funds’ release, but could not explain why it was absent from his handover notes. The SGF office, Obazee noted, is attached to the account from which the money was taken.

“I asked Boss Mustapha if he wrote a handover note when he was leaving office, and he said Yes. I asked him whether the $6.23 million issue was mentioned in his handover note… but he could not answer. I requested a list of foreign observers who collected money, but the SGF could not provide it,” he said.

On Buhari, Obazee argued:
“For actions and inactions, late President Buhari ought to be charged and must be charged along with Emefiele in this $6.2 million fraud, even if posthumously, since national honours are given posthumously.”

He also alleged complicity by external auditors Ernst & Young and KPMG, and said some funds had been recovered, including $856,500 from Bashirudeen Maishanu, who allegedly confessed to stealing part of the money.

“Prosecute All Involved To Deter Corruption”
Obazee concluded that selective prosecution undermines the fight against graft.

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“The situation in Nigeria is a very unfortunate one, especially for the federal government to have put only Emefiele on trial in an alleged fraud that involved more than 10 people,” he said, urging that all those implicated be prosecuted to serve as a deterrent.

The case was adjourned for continuation of trial.

[Rewritten story culled from insidebusiness.ng]