The report accused Emefiele of working in concert with a minister in the Muhammadu Buhari government, CBN officials and his proxies. If confirmed, all of them must be brought swiftly to book. He reportedly took decisions without the consent of the CBN board and the President. In one account in the United Kingdom, the CBN allegedly lodged £543.48 million.
Emefiele, in office since June 2014 until he was unceremoniously sacked by Tinubu in June, allegedly withdrew $6.23 million from the CBN. The ex-governor allegedly illegally cornered the Union Bank of Nigeria and Polaris Bank through proxies.
A caveat: details of the report in the media were not signed by an authorised public official and could well be disowned. And he remains innocent under the law unless otherwise pronounced by the courts. However, damaging allegations have been in the public space for months.
Emefiele’s tenure featured serial impunity. In December 2022, he commenced a “naira redesign” programme that levied untold hardship on Nigerians. The economy lost N20 trillion to the policy, said the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise.
Yet, Emefiele shares the blame with the presidents that appointed him and renewed his tenure; Goodluck Jonathan and Buhari looked away despite several reports alleging misdeedsat the reserve bank.
But Nigerians are not impressed, as past revelations of massive corruption have mostly failed to result in commensurate convictions, or full recovery of diverted public funds. Currently, Emefiele is facing trial over a paltry N1.2 billion fraud amid other huge allegations on his watch.
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Shortly after Olusegun Obasanjo exited office in 2007, Nigerians were regaled with the power sector probe. Till today, there is no definite figure of the amount embezzled with estimates ranging between $10 billion and $16 billion. There has been no retribution for the culprits.
Under Goodluck Jonathan, a House of Representatives’ probe discovered that government paid N1.7 trillion fraudulently to petrol marketers in 2011. The Buhari government equally found that under Jonathan, $2.1 billion was taken for arms procurement to prosecute the Boko Haram war, but shared among politicians for the 2015 general elections.
Consequently, Nigeria ranked 150 out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2022.That was the year Buhari shockingly pardoned two ex-governors earlier convicted for corruption. Buhari said Nigeria lost $150 billion to looting in the 10 years to 2015.
Other unresolved corruption allegations include that of a former Accountant-General of the Federation, and many former governors. Ngozi Olojeme was initially accused of mismanaging N69 billion pension funds. Some ex-governors were tried for far lower amounts than they allegedly stole.
In Nigeria, corruption thrives on elite conspiracy, the compromised judiciary, and absence of political will by presidents.
Tinubu should be different as Nigeria cannot continue to totter. Unlike many previous cases, beyond the spectacular revelations, there should be diligent prosecution of all identified culprits.
Tinubu should appoint a coordinator for the anti-corruption agencies. The larceny at the CBN must not go unpunished and all public funds must be fully accounted for.
