Emefiele: CBN Board Ratified Presidential Approval for Naira Redesign, Witness Tells Court

Alex Enumah in Abuja

A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Kingsley Obiorah, yesterday, said the CBN Board and the apex bank’s Committee of Governors (CoG) ratified the presidential approval for the redesigned of naira notes.
Obiorah, however, claimed the board did not recommend the 2022 Naira redesign to former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Obiorah made the submission while testifying as the Fifth Prosecution Witness (PW5) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the ongoing trial of the immediate past CBN governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele.
The anti-graft agency had on May 15 arraigned Emefiele on a four-count charge before Justice Maryanne Anenih of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Maitama, Abuja.
Emefiele denied the charge and was admitted to bail in the sum of N300 million.
At the last sitting, Anenih had granted a request by EFCC to call two of its witnesses via Zoom, one of whom was the PW5.

Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, the witness claimed that he first served as Special Adviser to Emefiele on Economic Matters before he later became Deputy Governor.
However, under cross examination by Emefiele’s lawyer, Mr. Olalekan Ojo, SAN, the witness confirmed that the apex bank’s board had at its December 15, 2022 meeting, ratified the decision of the CoG on Naira redesign policy, saying, “This ratification is in respect of the redesigned Naira already in circulation.”

Obiorah said the first time the apex bank’s board heard of the policy was on December 15, 2022.
He stated, “To the best of my recollection, the first day this policy (Naira redesign) was discussed at the board was mid-December, 2022. I think it was around December 15, 2022.
“The governor (Emefiele) invited the deputy governor, Operations and Director, Currency Operations to present that same memo that the Committee of Governors (COG) saw in October. He also informed the board of the president’s approval.

“I do not recollect any instance of the board making recommendation for Naira redesign to the president. There was no meeting the board recommended Naira redesign.”
Earlier, the witness told the court that Emefiele informed the four CBN deputy governors of the naira redesign policy at an event in Lagos on October 25, 2022, and added that they advised him against announcing the policy at the event.

According to Obiorah, “On October 25, 2022, we were in Lagos to commemorate the first-year anniversary of the digital currency, E-Naira. During the break between the first two sessions of the event, the governor (Emefiele) called the four deputy governors and informed us of plans to redesign the currency.
“He was wondering if he was going to announce it that day at the event. My personal reaction was that the event may not be the appropriate place. That was the first time I became aware of the plan.

“Secondly, my comment was that we would have needed  time to study the policy and make inputs.”
The witness further alleged that Emefiele had told the four deputy governors that the reason behind the secrecy of the redesign policy was to ensure its effective implementation.
Obiorah also recalled that the deputy governor, operations, had at a meeting of CoG held on October 26, 2022, presented the memo for deliberation, during which the governor mentioned that he had already received the approval of the president for the policy.

“After the CoG meeting, the governor and two deputy governors joined a press conference to announce the policy to the public. All this happened on 26th October, 2022,” the witness told the court.
However, under cross examination by Emefiele’s lawyer, Mr. Olalekan Ojo, SAN, the witness confirmed that the apex bank’s board had at its December 15, 2022 meeting, ratified the decision of the CoG on Naira redesign policy, saying, “This ratification is in respect of the redesigned Naira already in circulation.”
Besides, the witness admitted that it was normal for the CBN Committee of Governors to implement approvals/requests from the president for actions that required the approval of the Committee of Governors and the Board.

He confirmed that other than the president’s approval for currency redesign, the CoG had in some instances implemented requests for disbursement of funds to Niger Republic, Chad, Cameroon, and the Nigerian military for the country’s security prior to CoG and board approvals.  
According to him, “Such (presidential) request would come to the governor. He would usually let the committee (CoG) know and it would be implemented before the board gets to know.”
Meanwhile, Obiorah admitted that when he was invited for interrogation by EFCC, he never saw any documents from Buhari or any officials from the presidency complaining about the redesigned naira notes already in circulation.

The witness also told the court that one of the reasons for the naira redesign was to combat currency trafficking and hoarding.
At the end of his testimony, the court adjourned till December 4, for continuation of trial.
In the four-count charge, marked FCT/HC/CR/264/2024, the anti-graft agency claimed that Emefiele embarked on the naira redesign without the approval of the Board of the CBN as well as Buhari.

Specifically, EFCC accused Emefiele of approving the printing of various quantities of new Naira notes “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”.