President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, at the presidential villa, Abuja. In photographs released by the Personal Assistant to the President (Photography), Sunday Aghaeze, President Buhari and Emefiele were seen shaking hands and smiling in the President’s office. Monday’s visit was the first by the CBN governor since he was nominated for another five-year term by the President. The presidential aide said Buhari congratulated Emefiele on his reappointment.
The meeting came on the same day that a Federal High Court in Abuja granted a motion ex-parte request to serve Emefiele through substituted service in the matter of George Uboh Whistleblowers Network V. Godwin Emefiele, FHC/ABJ/CS/419/2019. Uboh had prayed the court to issue an order that Emefiele, who has been evading and avoiding service, to be served notice of the case against him and three other defendants through the legal department of the CBN. The originating summons in the case which has President Buhari, Senate President Bukola Saraki and the Senate as co-defendants accuses the CBN governor of misappropriating the sum of $2.5 billion allegedly under-declared and unremitted by the apex bank to the treasury of the federal government.
George Uboh of the Whistleblowers Network in a statement made available to Huhuonline.com, copies of which have been posted on social media platforms, including his Facebook page, wants a declaratory injunction compelling the Senate to suspend proceedings on the confirmation process of Emefiele; pending the determination of the substantive issues in the lawsuit before the court. Uboh is also asking the court for a declaration that Emefiele is unfit to hold any public office in Nigeria based on his dereliction of duty at the CBN where he is also accused of personally; and in collusion with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) short-changing the treasury to the tune of $2, 564, 000,000. Uboh has also called on the security agencies to arrest the CBN governor within the next 72 hours.
In the affidavit supported by over 100 pages of documents, counsel for the plaintiff, Martin Onyedika Okoye of the Johnmary C. Jideobi & Co law firm in Abuja, said a whistleblower within the apex bank alerted his client, claiming that the CBN is sinking in financial improprieties, corruption and economic sabotage. The fraud activities in the apex bank are often carried out through under-reporting and wrongful calculation of revenue streams that is causing the country billions of dollars in lost revenue, which Emefiele and his acolytes used to line their private pockets, as well as the pockets of the members of the grand cartel operating in the NNPC.
Huhuonline.com has not independently authenticated the documents provided by the whistleblower but the originating summons accuses the CBN governor of the following transgressions: “that in 2017 alone, the CBN under your watch under-declared and under-remitted $760,000,000:00 USD exchange gains which accrued from BDCs to Federation account through Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Awka. Please see attached; that the CBN under your watch conspired with NNPC to divert $24,263,008.56 USD in 2015 expected to be shared through Federal Allocation Account Committee (FAAC) in January 2016 to the three tiers of government; and, that the CBN under your watch in collusion with NNPC denied the three tiers of government revenue from crude oil and gas from May 2015 to June 2016 (14 months), but diverted over $1.78 billion USD through fake accounts. The aggregate of the above funds missing under your watch in a fraudulent manner is over $2,564,000,000 USD.”
Uboh in a statement asked Emefiele to remit the funds to Treasury Single Account (TSA) within seven days but the CBN governor is yet to acknowledge, let alone honor the request. To which end, Uboh said he felt compelled to grant a press conference during which time he presented the supporting 100-page documents/exhibits to the media, while a 7-page synopsis of the alleged fraudulent charges were also given to the media. “Again, since the May 6, 2019 press conference, Emefiele has kept mute on my allegations that $2.5 Billion USD was missing under his watch, thus Emefiele has acquiesced or conceded to my allegations,” the statement read in part.
President Buhari had last week sent a letter to the Senate seeking the confirmation of the reappointment of Emefiele. The letter from the president titled: ‘Renewal of the Appointment of Godwin l. Emefiele as Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria’ read in part: “In view of the expiration of the first tenure of the current Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on June 2, 2019, and pursuant to the provisions of Section 8 (1) and (2) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007,l hereby present for confirmation by the Senate Mr. Godwin l. Emefiele for re-appointment as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria for a final term of five years.”
That move by the president put an end to speculations that Emefiele might not get a second term in office. But the Whistleblower Network wants the court to stop Emefiele’s confirmation, saying the actions of the CBN governor violate Sections 80 and 162 of the constitution as well as the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007 and the CBN Act. The deponent of the affidavit told the court that Emefiele had been evading service as security agents both at his home and office refused to receive the court summons. Now that the court has ordered that the CBN governor should be served through the CBN legal department, Emefiele has 14 days to enter presence personally or through his attorneys, failure to which the court will be compelled to enter judgement against him.
