President Bola Tinubu’s special investigator on the Central Bank of Nigeria, Jim Obazee, has told a court in Abuja that former president Muhammadu Buhari should have faced prosecution over an alleged $6.2m fraud involving the country’s central bank.
Testifying on Friday as a prosecution witness in the trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria governor Godwin Emefiele, Obazee also said the former secretary to the government of the federation, Boss Mustapha, should have been charged over the transaction.
Emefiele is standing trial before the Federal Capital Territory high court on a 20-count charge of conspiracy, abuse of office and fraud.
Led in evidence by the director of public prosecutions of the federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, Obazee was shown documents said to include a letter purportedly signed by Buhari authorising the release of $6.2m and another allegedly emanating from the office of the secretary to the government of the federation directing the central bank to release the funds to one Jibril Abubakar for logistics linked to foreign election observers.
However, Obazee referred to later statements by Mustapha denying knowledge of the transaction and alleging that the documents, including the one attributed to Buhari, had been forged.
The investigator told the court that responsibility for the alleged fraud extended beyond Emefiele and should not be confined to the former central bank chief alone.
He said that, although Buhari is now deceased, he should have been prosecuted over the matter, while Mustapha, Abubakar, a CBN official, Bashirudeen Maishanu and other officials connected to the transaction ought to stand trial alongside Emefiele.
Obazee also criticised the Abuja branch of the CBN, saying it had failed to conduct due diligence before releasing the funds.
He further told the court that Maishanu refunded $856,500 to his investigative panel during its inquiry into the matter.
Under cross-examination by Emefiele’s counsel, Matthew Burkaa, Obazee acknowledged that he did not recover any money from the former CBN governor and had found no evidence that any of the alleged proceeds was paid into Emefiele’s account.
He nevertheless argued that Emefiele should have been aware of the transaction had the bank’s internal control mechanisms, including its CCTV system and Bank Verification Number records, been properly utilised.
Obazee also disclosed that Tinubu summoned him on 19 December 2023 and instructed him, in the presence of the attorney general of the federation and the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, to investigate the matter and prepare chargeable offences arising from the alleged fraud.
When challenged over the fact that charges against Emefiele had been filed before that date, the witness said he was not a lawyer and could not account for the apparent discrepancy.
Justice Hamza Muazu adjourned proceedings until 20 October for the continuation of the trial.
