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| EFCC Charges Emefiele For Allocating N18.96bn To Produce N684.5m Banknotes |
The EFCC's four-count indictment suggests Emefiele violated a court order with the intent to cause harm while executing the naira swap policy under former President Muhammadu Buhari's administration.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has charged the ex-Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, with a new four-count accusation of allocating N18.96 billion to print N684.5 million in currency.
Emefiele stood before Maryann Anenih, a judge at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the capital, and denied all charges.
The EFCC's four-count indictment suggests Emefiele violated a court order with the intent to cause harm while executing the naira swap policy under former President Muhammadu Buhari's administration.
The agency claims the former CBN governor approved the currency printing without "strict approval" from Buhari and the CBN board, "disobeying the direction of law with intent to cause injury to the public."
Additionally, the EFCC accuses Emefiele of sanctioning a N124.8 billion withdrawal from the consolidated revenue fund "in a manner not prescribed by the national assembly."
The charges are as follows:
- GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE is alleged to have, between October 19, 2022, and March 5, 2023, in Abuja, willfully disregarded Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007, by sanctioning the production of 375,520,000 color-swapped N1,000 notes, totaling N11,052,068,062, without the Central Bank Board's recommendation and the President's strict approval, an act causing public injury and constituting an offense.
- Between the same dates, EMEFIELE is accused of defying Section 19 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, by authorizing the production of 172,000,000 color-swapped N500 notes, at a cost of N4,471,066,040, without the necessary approvals, thereby causing public injury and committing an offense.
- EMEFIELE is also charged with approving the production of 137,070,000 color-swapped N200 notes, costing N3,441,005,280, in violation of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007, without the required approvals, causing public injury and committing an offense.
- On October 7, 2020, EMEFIELE allegedly disobeyed Section 80 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended), by authorizing the withdrawal of N124,860,227,865.16 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation in an unauthorized manner, causing public injury and committing an offense.
The Nigerian populace faced severe difficulties leading up to the 2023 general elections due to the apex bank's naira swap policy, which Emefiele defended as a measure against vote buying.
On October 26, 2022, Emefiele announced plans to redesign the country's highest currency denominations—N1000, N500, and N200—to manage the money supply and assist security agencies in combating illegal financial activities.
He stated the new notes would take effect from mid-December 2022 and urged customers to exchange their old notes by January 31, 2023, after which they would no longer be legal tender.
This directive resulted in a shortage of old naira notes, sparking violent protests across the country, with banks and ATMs being vandalized and set ablaze.
While some APC governors deemed the policy politically motivated and sought legal action, other segments of the Nigerian public, particularly the opposition, praised the initiative.
Nevertheless, the Supreme Court annulled the CBN's deadline for the old notes and decreed that both old and new notes remain legal tender indefinitely, a situation that persists to this day.
