A former high-ranking aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Tunde Sabiu, may face charges alongside former CBN governor Godwin Emefiele. A damning report by the Special Investigator Jim Obazee, exposed that the controversial Naira redesign plot was also orchestrated by Deputy Governor CBN Folashodun Shonubi.
In a development dating back to September 2022, the aide purportedly advised Emefiele to proceed with the Naira redesign initiative. The cost of printing the new notes amounted to N61.5 billion, with N31.79 billion already disbursed.
According to documents, the Naira Redesign lacked the requisite approvals from the CBN Board and President Buhari, who seemingly only endorsed the move without thorough consideration. Emefiele, on October 6, 2022, sought and received approval from Buhari to redesign N1,000, N500, N200, and N100 notes.
Notably, Buhari approved the request but directed that the notes be printed locally. However, after the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc said it would be time-consuming to redesign and reconfigure the notes because of the new features contained in the design – positioning of watermark, presence of QR codes, different numbering style and other complex security features – Emefiele took the job to a UK firm.
Emefiele allegedly bypassed CBN management and failed to follow the procedures outlined in the CBN Act, 2007, by not seeking recommendations from the Board. The report asserts that Emefiele sent only three denominations (N1,000, N500, and N200) for redesign to De La Rue in the UK, incurring a fee of £205,000.
As of August 9, 2023, approximately N769 billion of the redesigned notes were in circulation, with a printing cost of N61.5 billion. Notably, only N31.79 billion of this amount had been paid, raising questions about the financial management of the initiative.