Jim Obazee, the special investigator assigned to the investigation, indicted former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, on the N22.7 trillion Ways and Means advance to the Federal Government, almost five months after the investigation began.
In a report that Obazee delivered to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on December 9, he revealed that Emefiele had once authorised the payment of N500 billion under the guise of “ways and means advance” without the former president Muhammadu Buhari’s consent.
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The report also stated that the CBN, led by Emefiele, and the apex bank officials were able to provide the 9th National Assembly with partial details of N9 trillion thanks to the N22.7 trillion Ways and Means advance.
The report made clear that, contrary to what was previously documented between the CBN and the Ministry of Finance, the actual position of the Ways and Means is N4.44 trillion, not N22.7 trillion.
“In some cases, N500 billion is taken and debited to Ways and Means without the former president Muhammadu Buhari’s approval.
“In other startling incidents, the former governor of the CBN and his four deputy governors worked together to commit flagrant theft in order to balance the CBN books. This was accomplished by violently removing funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account and billing “Ways and Means” with the money. In order to cover the crime, they even extended the “Ways and Means” portfolio and produced the narration as a presidential subsidy.
Even the acting CBN governor at the time and the CBN officers were unable to produce the presidential approval for the majority of the costs listed under “Ways and Means.” They were only able to partially explain a total of N9,063,286,720,318.92 or N9,258,040,720,318.92 (depending on which official you are considering his submission) and an unreasonable attribution of non-negotiated/unadvised interest element of N6,678,874,321,541,97 when asked to provide the breakdown of the supposed N22,719,703,774,306.90 that was presented to the 9th National Assembly to securitize the “Ways and Means” financing illegally.
According to the study, “the true position of the “Ways and Means” as documented from the reconciliation between the Ministry of Finance and the CBN at the time is N4,449,149,411,584.54.”
According to Obasanjo News24, Nigeria’s overall debt stock, which was N87.91 trillion in the third quarter of 2023, had N22.7 trillion in ways and means advances examined and added to it.
Remember that following Emefiele’s suspension on July 28, President Bola Tinubu named Obazee to investigate CBN. Emefiele oversaw the top bank from June 4, 2014, to June 9, 2023.
Emefiele was granted free by Justice Hamza Muazu on November 22 in relation to N1.2 billion procurement charges; however, he failed to comply with the terms of his bail and is currently incarcerated.
