Buhari Authorised Naira Redesign— Emefiele

Former Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, has refuted the claim that there was no presidential approval for the naira redesign.

In a statement on Sunday, en­titled, ‘Re: Emefiele, Others Stole Billions, Illegally Kept Nigeria’s Funds In Foreign Banks’, the for­mer apex bank governor said, “Af­ter my release on bail from the cor­rectional centre, Kuje, my attention was drawn to publications released by some mainstream and online news platforms. The sources of the information published by both me­dia houses were credited to a cer­tain report prepared by a Mr. Jim Obazee, who was appointed by the president as a private investigator.

“I have gone through the pub­lications, and I say boldly that the contents of the said publications are false, misleading and calculat­ed to disparage my person, injure my character and to serve the selfish interest of the private in­vestigator. Because of my present situation, I have been advised by my lawyers not to say anything in respect of the matters which have been submitted to the court for adjudication.

“However, I need to address some of the issues raised in the publication which are barefaced lies told by the investigator in order to achieve his satanic agenda.

“First, it was reported that, con­trary to the provision of the CBN Act 2007, there was no presidential approval for the naira redesign. I wish to state unequivocally that there was indeed a presidential approval, and the said approval was handed over to the same Jim Obazee during the process of his investigation in the presence of senior CBN officials and his own investigative team. Moreover, the former President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has stated on a number of occasions that he au­thorised and approved the naira redesign.

“I am therefore at a loss as to why Mr. Jim Obazee will mislead Nigerians that there was no presi­dential approval.

“The report also claimed that the sum of $6.23 million was with­drawn from the CBN vault based on a false presidential directive bearing the signature of the for­mer President Muhammadu Bu­hari, GCFR, and that of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mu­stapha. About two weeks ago, Jim Obazee in company of a certain Deputy Commissioner of Police from Force CID came to Kuje to ask me questions in respect of the said document in the presence of my lawyers.

“I stated verbally and in writ­ing that I have no knowledge of such directive from the former president and the former SGF. In fact, I told them that that was the first time I would be seeing the documents. On this, I challenge Jim Obazee to publish the said documents and also the statements that I made to them.

“The final issue that I will like to respond to is the issue of the 593 accounts which were purportedly opened in different parts of the world. I state categorically that I am not involved in the opening of these accounts and I do not have knowledge of their openings. The fixed deposits in those foreign ac­counts are definitely outside my knowledge.

“However, let me state clearly, that the relevant departments of the CBN have the authority to car­ry out such activities in line with their lawful mandate within the CBN. I therefore join well-mean­ing Nigerians who have spoken on this matter and have demanded a thorough and transparent investi­gation of all these alleged frauds. “Meanwhile, I have instructed my lawyers to immediately commence legal process to clear my name from the defamatory statements contained in the report and by ex­tension the publications.”