Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has been accused of disregarding the new currency note designs approved by the previous administration of Muhammadu Buhari and instead printing his own preferred designs.
The anti-graft agency had filed a four-count charge against Emefiele on May 15, and the case is being heard by Justice Maryanne Anenih of the FCT High Court.
Godwin Emefiele, the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, pleaded not guilty to the charges and was granted bail in the amount of N300 million.
During the trial at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Ahmed Umar, a former CBN director, testified that the design elements approved by former President Muhammadu Buhari differed significantly from the design that Emefiele ultimately ordered to be printed.
Umar said: “The design approved by the President had a QR code, which the currency in circulation does not. The positioning of the portrait was on the right side, that printed by the CBN was on the left and the number scheme approved by the President is different from what the CBN produced.”
Emefiele is currently standing trial on two different criminal charges. One of the charges is for approving the printing of N684.5 million notes at the rate of N18.96 billion.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed charges against Godwin Emefiele, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), before Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja. The charges, filed on behalf of the federal government, allege that Emefiele unlawfully approved the withdrawal of N124.8 billion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation. The EFCC accuses Emefiele of willfully disobeying the law, with the intention of causing harm to the public, during the implementation of the naira swap policy under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari. The charge, dated April 2, 2024, was filed by EFCC prosecutor Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN) and eight other lawyers acting on behalf of the Attorney General of the Federation.
The statement of offence against him read, “Public Servant disobeying direction of law with intent to cause injury to the contrary to and punishable under Section 123 of the Penal Code Law, Cap. 89 Laws of the Federation, 1990.
“PARTICULARS OF THE OFFENCE: That you GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE between the 19th day of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007, by approving the printing of N375,520,000.00 pieces of colour swapped N1, 000, at the total cost of N11,052, 068,062 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.”