Emefiele Took Billions Of Dollars From Nigeria's Foreign Reserve Without Buhari's Consent

Godwin Emefiele

Ajuri Ngelale, the spokesperson for the president, has levied shocking accusations against Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), alleging that he spent the nation's foreign reserve without former President Muhammadu Buhari's approval.

Ngelale stated in an exclusive interview with TVC that Emefiele spent billions of dollars from the foreign reserve without the right authorization because he made important financial decisions without the former president's consent.

“What was done concerning the expenditure of billions of dollars from the foreign reserves was done largely without the approval or knowledge of President Muhammad Buhari,” Ngelale disclosed during the interview.

According to the president's spokesman, the governor of the CBN chaired the bank's board of directors and had considerable control over the majority of the apex bank's operations.

“Yes, that might seem hard for some people to believe, but I want to explain how that could have happened.

“We have one of the few Central Banks in the world where the day-to-day CEO was the governor of the Central Bank and was also the chairman of the board of directors. He was essentially overseeing himself,” he said.

Nigerians have responded to these claims in a big way; many see them as an attempt to remove Buhari from all accountability for the economic problems the nation faced while he was in office.

The N30 trillion Ways and Means loan, one of the most scandalous episodes of Buhari's presidency, is primarily to blame for Nigeria's skyrocketing inflation.

According to financial analyst Kelvin Emmanuel, Buhari's corporate governance and accountability policies are “an utter failure.”

He listed several financial choices made by Emefiele, which he said were carried out improperly and without the National Assembly's approval. These choices included borrowing money from outside asset managers and exchanging bonds for reserves.