The trial of Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), continued on Tuesday with explosive testimony from a former Director of Operations at the apex bank, Ahmed Umar. Umar revealed that the naira redesign initiative undertaken by Emefiele in late 2022 lacked the requisite approval from the Committee of Governors.
Emefiele, arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on May 15 before Justice Maryanne Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, faces charges related to the alleged unlawful redesign and printing of new naira notes. The charges, documented under case number CR/264/2024, accuse Emefiele of bypassing both the CBN Board and then-President Muhammadu Buhari, incurring an expenditure of N18.96bn for printing and swapping new notes valued at N684.5m.
The EFCC contends that Emefiele, in contravention of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007, authorised the printing of 375,520,000 pieces of colour-swapped N1,000 notes at a total cost of N11.05bn without necessary approvals.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Umar, serving as the EFCC’s first witness, detailed the internal process for the naira redesign. Led in evidence by EFCC prosecutor Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), Umar recounted that his department was instructed to draft a memo on the new naira design in August 2022. This memo, reviewed by the Committee of Governors on October 26, 2022, ultimately did not receive approval.
Umar, who joined the CBN 35 years ago and retired in July 2023, explained that the Committee of Governors, chaired by the CBN Governor, includes five members. Despite presenting the redesign proposal, the committee only modified one aspect to include the N200 denomination, rejecting other key elements and the overall exercise for 2023.
“The procedure mandates the Board of Directors to recommend to the President the design and form of the currency. Only after the President’s approval can production commence,” Umar clarified. The court admitted into evidence the Certified True Copy of the memorandum prepared by Umar’s department, marked as Exhibit A.
The EFCC also accused Emefiele of spending N4.4bn on printing colour-swapped N500 notes and N3.4bn on 137,070 pieces of coloured N200 notes. The alleged offences occurred between October 2022 and March 2023 in Abuja, in violation of Section 19 of the CBN Act. Furthermore, Emefiele is accused of unlawfully approving the withdrawal of N124.8bn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.
Despite these serious allegations, Emefiele has pleaded not guilty to all charges, maintaining his innocence as the trial unfolds. The case continues to draw significant attention, spotlighting the governance and accountability within Nigeria’s central banking system.
