The suspended Governor of Central Bank (CBN), Godwin Emefiele currently in the Department of State Services (DSS) custody, has reportedly disclosed the involvement of several high-ranking officials, including traditional rulers, army generals, and judges, as his accomplices.
This was disclosed by DSS sources that spoke with SaharaReporters.
It’s said that Emefiele has been “cooperating with investigators,” recounting instances of how he gave money to these influential figures during his tenure.
Both Emefiele and Abdulrasheed Bawa, the suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), were relieved of their duties by President Bola Tinubu’s administration following allegations of corruption and abuse of office.
Both men are currently under detention.
The platform further stated that Emefiele had implicated Bawa in a scam involving the redesign of the Naira, Nigeria’s currency.
New details from DSS sources suggest that Emefiele is divulging significant information, highlighting major accomplices in the mismanagement of Nigeria’s apex bank.
The source was quoted as saying, “As per Emefiele, he is cooperating with investigators and revealing a lot. Emefiele corrupted and bribed almost every major traditional ruler, army generals, some judges and clerics.
“Almost all the CBN directors are also being quizzed and they too are cooperating.”
In 2022, then-President Muhammadu Buhari, along with Emefiele, announced new designs for the N200, N500, and N1,000 Naira notes.
However, this policy sparked a cash crisis, resulting in a shortage of Naira notes and long lines at banks and ATMs.
Emefiele and former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, allegedly approached Bawa to suggest the redesign of the Naira to prevent potential money laundering during the 2023 election, which they suspected to be aided by large cash reserves of Bola Tinubu, then-presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
A source that spoke with the platform said, “Emefiele who is currently cooling his feet in the cell of the DSS is the reason why the EFCC chairman has been detained overnight. Emefiele who is cooperating with the DSS claimed that Bawa was the one who raised a memo to former President Muhammadu Buhari, asking that the Naira should be redesigned to stem money laundering during the 2023 election.
“Bawa confronted him that he (Emefiele) and the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Malami were the ones that came to him to raise the memo because they suspected Tinubu had warehouses stuffed with naira notes.”
