Business

CBN Investigator Confirms Buhari’s Nephew, Not Former President Approved Naira Redesign

Published

4 months ago

December 22, 2023

Eric

The Special Investigator on the Central Bank of Nigeria and Related Entities, Jim Obazee, has indicated that the recent naira redesign wasn’t expressly approved by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Obazee had gathered that the approval came from Buhari’s aide, Sabiu Tunde ‘Yusuf’.

This was contained in the investigator’s final report tagged, ‘Report of the Special Investigation on CBN and Related Entities (Chargeable Offences) submitted to President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday.

Recall that Obazee, a former Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, was named by Tinubu as the CBN special investigator in a letter dated July 28, 2023.

The report revealed that it was the embattled former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, who, in collaboration with Sabiu, implemented the naira redesign.

Sabiu is the former President’s nephew.

The PUNCH reports that Emefiele, who is currently in Kuje Custodial Centre, is being prosecuted for N1.2bn in procurement fraud.

He has not been able to perfect the N300m bail granted him by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory on November 22, 2023.

However, documents obtained by The Punch on Thursday indicated that the former apex bank governor might face fresh criminal charges over the handling of the CBN naira redesign policy.

Emefiele could be “prosecuted for illegal issuance of currency under Section 19 of the CBN Act alongside Tunde Sabiu and the 12 top directors of the CBN.”

It was gathered that the naira redesign policy was sold to Buhari at the instance of Sabiu and that the initiative was done without the approval of the board of the CBN.

The investigator found that Buhari didn’t approve of the naira redesign. It was Tunde Sabiu who first told Emefiele in September 2022 to consider the redesign of the naira.

“On October 6, 2022, Emefiele wrote to Buhari that he wanted to redesign and reconfigure the N1000, N500, and N200 notes.

“The former president tagged along but did not approve the redesign as required by law. Buhari merely approved that the currency be printed in Nigeria. The redesign was only mentioned to the board of the CBN on December 15, 2022, after Emefiele had awarded the contract to Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc on October 31, 2022,’’ the documents noted.

Emefiele was said to have contracted the redesign of the naira to De La Rue of the UK for £205,000 under the vote of the head of the Currency Operations Department after Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc said it could not deliver the contract within a short timeframe.

It further showed that “the special investigator found that N61.5bn was earmarked for the printing of the new notes, out of which N31.79bn had been paid.

“As of August 9, 2023, findings revealed that N769bn of the new notes were in circulation.

“The probe of the CBN also revealed the fraudulent use of N26.627tn Ways and Means of the Apex Bank as well as the misuse of the COVID-19 intervention fund.

“For instance, the CBN under Emefiele at its 661st meeting held on October 27, 2020, approved that the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account should be debited with the sum of N124.860bn, and the decision was implemented on October 9.

“Similarly, the Committee of Governors, at its 670th meeting held on December 9, 2020, granted ‘anticipatory approval’ pending receipt of a formal request by Mr President and ratification by the board of directors for the payment of the sum of N250bn only to the Federal Government of Nigeria to address challenges as a result of low revenue inflow and the payment of salaries.

“The decision was implemented on December 15, 2020.”

The CBN investigator discovered that the CBN Ways and Means was abused under the Buhari administration.

The PUNCH reports that under the CBN Act, the Ways and Means provision allows the government to borrow from the apex bank if it needs short-term or emergency finance to fund delayed government expected cash receipts of fiscal deficits.

Meanwhile, it cost the CBN and its subsidiary about N74.84bn to produce and roll out currencies, including new naira notes, in 2022, according to The Punch report.

Despite the scarcity of naira that plagued the country in the latter months of 2022, the CBN spent 40.42 per cent more than the N53.29bn it spent in the preceding year to roll out currencies.

The Punch

Business

Naira Slumps to N1,399/$1 in Official Window, N1,430/$1 in Parallel Market

Published

1 day ago

April 27, 2024

Eric

The Naira continued its slump against the American dollar for the seventh consecutive day on Friday, in both the official and parallel windows.

The domestic currency traded at N1,399.23/$1 and N1,430/$1 respectively.

This is according to data sourced from the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window.

At the end of trading on Friday, the Naira lost N89.35 against the dollar when compared to the previous exchange rate of N1,309.88/$1 on Thursday, April 26, 2024.

The intra-day high and low recorded during the day were N1,410/$1 and N1,05/$1 respectively, representing a wide spread of N359/$1.

Similarly, the Naira slumped against the dollar at the parallel section of the market for the seventh consecutive day to trade at N1,430/$1 representing a loss of N10 when compared to the N1,420/$1 it traded the previous day.

However, the Naira gained against the pound. The domestic currency appreciated by N50 against the British Pound to trade at N1,650/£1 as against the previous trading price of N1,700/£1 representing a gain of N50 for the local currency,

The Canadian dollar however closed flat against the Naira to trade at N1,000/CA$1 same as the previous trading day rate.

The Euro also slumped against the Naira to trade at N1,450/€1 as against the rate of N1,500/€1 the previous trading rate indicating a gain of N50 for the Nigerian currency.

Business

Bureau De Change Operators Seek Unified FX Retail Market

Published

1 day ago

April 27, 2024

Eric

The Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has announced plans to create a unified structure for the retail end of the country’s foreign exchange market.

The association disclosed on Friday that the move would tackle volatility and boost regulatory compliance within that segment of the market.

This move, according to the ABCON President Aminu Gwadabe, is aimed at tackling currency volatility and strengthening regulatory compliance within the sector.

Gwadabe outlined ABCON’s strategy, which involves unifying operators across various categories within the market. The association is establishing state chapters to achieve better market coordination, integration, and ultimately, a single, standardized market structure. This would, in theory, allow authorities to monitor all BDC operators throughout Nigeria more effectively.

He said: “Part of our vision for a united retail-end forex market includes activating geo-mapping and automated BDCs physical office verification exercise using the Remote Gravity Physical verification apps. This will enable forex buyers to easily locate BDCs offices for effective and seamless transactions.”

He reiterated the benefits of a vibrant retail end of the forex market to support the Central Bank of Nigeria’s goal of achieving true price discovery for the Naira, balancing international obligations and national objectives; ensuring ease of regulation, security agencies monitoring and supervision as well as entrenching market visibility for BDC players.

With the world going digital, BDC operators under the ABCON leadership are committed to staying ahead of the competition by deploying time-tested technology to deliver effective services to foreign exchange end-users.

“Finally, we also condemned in its entity, the seeming reappearance of illegal economic behaviours in forex conversion and peer-to-peer trading that pose another recent surprise in naira volatility and I therefore want to warn that while surprises are the new normal, resilience is also the new skills,” Gwadebe explained.

The benefits of a unified market are multifaceted, according to Gwadabe. It would not only address exchange rate fluctuations but also bolster regulatory compliance among BDCs.

This could have a positive impact on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) efforts to achieve transparency in foreign exchange pricing. Additionally, a unified structure could enhance the overall image of BDCs and other stakeholders in the market, potentially leading to increased employment opportunities.

Business

FirstBank Appoints New MD/CEO, Alebiosu

Published

6 days ago

April 22, 2024

Eric

First Bank of Nigeria has appointed Olusegun Alebiosu as its new Managing Director with effect from April 2024.

The Bank stated this in a release signed by its acting company secretary Adewale Arogundade.

Alebiosu takes from Adesola Adeduntan, who resigned abruptly on Saturday with eight months left to complete his tenure in December 2024.

The release stated that “following the resignation of the managing director/CEO of FirstBank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, the Board of Directors has appointed Olusegun Alebiosu as the acting CEO of the 130-year-old institution.

“The appointment takes effect immediately and is subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

The release stated that Alebiosu was until this appointment the executive director, chief risk officer and executive compliance officer since January 2022. Prior to that, he was the Group executive/ chief risk officer, a position he held since 2016.

“Alebiosu brings to the executive management of FirstBank over 28 years’ experience in the banking and financial services industry with cross-functional exposure to Credit risk management, Financial planning and control, Credit and marketing, Trade, Corporate and commercial banking, Agriculture financing, Oil and Gas, Transportation (including Aviation and Shipping) and Project financing.”

It added that the new acting MD/CEO commenced his professional career in 1991 with Oceanic Bank Plc (now EcoBank) and prior to joining FirstBank in 2016 served as Chief Risk Officer at Coronation Merchant Bank Limited, Chief Credit Risk Officer at African Development Bank Group and Group Head, Credit Policy & Deputy Chief Credit Risk Officer at United Bank for Africa Plc.

“He is an alumnus of Harvard School of Government and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management. He also obtained a Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos and holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

“He is a member of various professional bodies namely, Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants (FCA), Associate, Nigeria Institute of Management (ANIM), Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and Member, Nigeria Institute of International Affairs.”