Economy
Emefiele Kept £543.4m in Fixed Deposit, Operated 593 Bank Accounts, Manipulated Exchange Rate—Investigator
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s embattled former central bank governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, has been accused of operating 593 bank accounts located in the United States, United Kingdom and China in which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), under his supervision, kept Nigerian funds without authorisation by the Board and Investment Committee of the bank.
The findings were made by the Special Investigator probing the CBN, Mr Jim Obazee, who was appointed by President Bola Tinubu to look into the books.
The investigator also discovered how billions of Naira were allegedly stolen by Mr Emefiele and other officials from the CBN’s accounts, including a “fraudulent cash withdrawal of $6.23 million” – about N2.9 billion at the then official exchange rate of N461 to a dollar.
Mr Obazee disclosed these in his report in which he recommended the prosecution of Mr Emefiele and at least 13 other individuals, including his deputy governors, for alleged gross financial offences.
The Special Investigator also identified other offences, including fraudulent use of Ways and Means to the tune of N26.627 trillion; fraudulent intervention programmes, fraudulent expenditures on COVID-19, and misrepresentation of presidential approval on the NESI Stabilisation Strategy Limited.
In the UK alone, the Special Investigator said his probe led him to £543.4 million kept by Mr Emefiele in fixed deposit accounts. He also said Mr Emefiele manipulated the Naira exchange rate and perpetrated fraud in the e-Naira project of the CBN.
In his report, which was submitted to President Tinubu on December 9, the Special Investigator said the Naira redesign policy introduced in October 2022 “was neither recommended by the Board of the CBN nor approved by the then President, Muhammadu Buhari, contrary to the provisions of Section 19 (1) of the CBN Act, 2007,” adding that, “It was a conspiracy against the Nigerian people and specifically the political class by the then CBN Governor (Mr Godwin Emefiele) and one of the erstwhile CBN Deputy Governor (Mr Folashodun Shonubi).
He claimed that the idea was that of Mr Shonubi (claiming interwoven challenges) and Mr Godwin Emefiele designed and approved the currency on October 19, 2022.
“It was indeed meant to frustrate the political class and make their election agenda very difficult. It turned out to be a huge punishment to Nigerians and the Nigerian economy coincidentally.”
Mr Obazee said the CBN printed the new N200, N500 and N1000 notes at a total cost of N61.5 billion, out of which it has paid N31.8 billion to the contractor, even though the total value of the new notes in circulation as of August was only N769.6 million.
“The sum of N1,727,500,000 was also spent on questionable legal fees on 19 cases that are directly traceable to the Naira Redesign and reconfiguration agenda,” Mr Obazee said in the report.
Mr Obazee said the immediate past Director of Currency in the CBN, Mr Ahmed Umar, who was under the supervision of Mr Shonubi, wrote a memorandum on August 25, 2022, to the committee of Governors (CBN), advising the redesign of the currency.
The next month, Mr Emefiele claimed that a presidential aide, Mr Tunde Sabiu, told him during a visit to the Presidential Villa to consider redesigning the Naira, and on October 6, the CBN governor wrote President Buhari seeking approval for the exercise.
“Mr Emefiele did not consult with the management of the CBN nor seek any recommendation from the Board of the CBN as required by Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007,” the report said.
However, on the same October 6 2022, President Buhari approved the request but directed that the notes be printed locally.
It was established that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc said it would be time-consuming to redesign and reconfigure the notes because of the new features contained in the design due to the positioning of the watermark, presence of QR codes, different numbering styles and other complex security features, Mr Emefiele took the job to the UK firm, which varied the colours of the old notes and got paid £205,000 for the “redesign effort.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Six price gainers helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange retain its stay in green territory after a 0.23 per cent appreciation on Thursday, February 26.
The price gainers were led by Nipco Plc, which added N25.00 to close at N278.00 per share compared with the previous day’s N253.00 per share, NASD Plc rose by N5.13 to N56.41 per unit versus N51.28 per unit, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc expanded by N2.24 to N102.44 per share from N100.00 per share, Afriland Properties Plc grew by 88 Kobo to N18.88 per unit from N18.00 per unit, 11 Plc increased by 35 Kobo to N277.00 per share from N276.65 per share, and Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) Plc gained 27 Kobo to close at N3.75 per unit versus N3.48 per unit.
On the flip side, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc lost N1.75 to sell at N68.25 per share versus N70.00 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc depreciated by 2 Kobo to N3.25 per unit from N3.27 per unit.
The weight of the advancers fortified the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.21 points to 4,034.46 points from 4,025.25 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N5.51 billion to N2.413 trillion from Wednesday’s N2.408 trillion.
Yesterday, the transaction value jumped by 18.8 per cent to N102.8 million from N80.7 million, and the number of deals surged by 18,8 per cent to 38 deals from 32 deals, while the transaction volume went down by 84.9 per cent to 1.3 million units from 8.7 million units.
At the close of business, CSCS Plc was the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 34.2 million units worth N2.04 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 6.3 million units sold for N1.1 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 122.1 million units valued at N478.2 million.
Resourcery Plc remained as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.05 billion units exchanged for N408.7 million, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 122.1 million worth N478.2 million, and CSCS Plc with 34.2 million units traded for N2.04 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further weakened against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) for the fourth straight session this week on Thursday, February 26.
At the official market yesterday, the Nigerian Naira lost N3.71 or 0.27 per cent to trade at N1,359.82/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,356.11/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window on Thursday by N8.27 to close at N1,843.23/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,834.96/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N8.30 to quote at N1,606.89/€1, in contrast to the midweek’s closing price of N1,598.59/€1.
But at the GTBank forex desk, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar remained unchanged at N1,367/$1, and also at the parallel market, it maintained stability at N1,365/$1.
The continuation of the decline of the Nigerian currency is attributed to a surge in foreign payments that have outpaced the available Dollars in the FX market.
In a move to address the ongoing shortfall at the official window, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervened by selling $100 million to banks and dealers on Tuesday.
However, the FX support failed to reverse the trend, though analysts see no cause for alarm, given that the authority recently mopped up foreign currency to achieve balance and it is still within the expected trading range of N1,350 and N1,450/$1.
As for the cryptocurrency market, major tokens posted losses over the last 24 hours as traders continued to de-risk alongside equities following Nvidia’s earnings-driven pullback, with Ripple (XRP) down by 2.7 per cent to $1.40, and Dogecoin (DOGE) down by 1.6 per cent to $0.0098.
Further, Litecoin (LTC) declined by 1.3 per cent to $55.87, Ethereum (ETH) slipped by 0.9 per cent to $2,036.89, Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled by 0.7 per cent to $67,708.21, Cardano (ADA) slumped by 0.6 per cent to $0.2924, and Solana (SOL) depreciated by 0.4 per cent to $87.22, while Binance Coin (BNB) gained 0.4 per cent to sell for $629.95, with the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closing flat at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil settled lower on Thursday as investors tracked developments in talks between the United States and Iran over the latter’s nuclear programme, weighing potential supply concerns if hostilities escalate.
Brent crude futures lost 10 cents or 0.14 per cent to close at $70.75 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures depreciated by 21 cents or 0.32 per cent to $65.21 a barrel.
The US and Iran held indirect talks in Geneva on Thursday over their long-running nuclear dispute to avert a conflict after US President Donald Trump ordered a military build-up in the region.
Prices had gained earlier in the session after media reports indicated the talks had stalled over US insistence on zero enrichment of uranium by Iran, as well as a demand for the delivery of all 60 per cent-enriched uranium to the US.
However, prices then retreated after the two countries extended talks into next week, reducing the immediate strike potential.
Iran’s Foreign Minister, who confirmed talks will continue next week, said Thursday’s talks were the most serious exchanges with the US yet, saying Iran clearly laid out its demand for lifting sanctions and the process for relief.
His counterpart from Oman, who is handling the talks, said significant progress was made in Thursday’s talks. The Omani minister’s upbeat assessment followed indirect talks between Iranian Foreign Minister and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Geneva, with one session in the morning and the second in the afternoon.
He will also hold talks with US Vice President JD Vance and other US officials in Washington on Friday.
The Trump administration has insisted that Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for armed groups in the region must be part of the negotiations.
The American President said on February 19 that Iran must make a deal in 10 to 15 days, warning that “really bad things” would otherwise happen.
On Tuesday, he briefly laid out his case for a possible attack on Iran in his State of the Union speech, underlining that while he preferred a diplomatic solution, he would not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
Meanwhile, the US continues to amass forces in the Middle Eastern region, with the military saying it is prepared to execute orders given by the US President.
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