The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has uncovered a significant financial scandal involving former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele. The investigation reveals that Emefiele allegedly spent N18 billion to print N1 billion worth of banknotes. This scandal centers around the production of one billion N100 banknotes and 5,000 acrylic blocks for Nigeria’s centenary celebration in October 2014.
The contract, awarded to Swedish company Crane Currency on September 17, 2014, was inflated to $121,660,000 (N18,911,524,842.62). The process bypassed the CBN board and secured approval directly from former President Goodluck Jonathan, without proper procedural adherence.
An advance payment of $72,996,000 was made, breaching established practices. However, only $39,848,991.90 was transferred, while the remaining $32,716,050 was converted to Naira and distributed among top officials. This sum, totaling N5.3 billion, was allegedly used to benefit key individuals within and outside the bank.
The EFCC has recovered N3,180,236,254.42 from those implicated. Despite these efforts, there are reports of attempts to pressure the EFCC Chairman to return the recovered funds to the accused, who claim the money was legitimately earned.
EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale confirmed the ongoing investigation but declined to provide further details.
