Buhari Gave His Nephew Naira Redesign Contract –CBN Investigator

So, it was a nephew of former president, Muhammadu Buhari that approved the Naira redesign contract that has caused a lot of upheaval in the country?

This was the indication in a final report – ‘Report of the Special Investigation on CBN and Related Entities (Chargeable Offences) submitted to President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday.

it was prepared by a Special Investigator on the Central Bank of Nigeria and Related Entities, Jim Obazee, a report published by Punch has indicated.

Obazee, a former Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria,, had gathered that the approval for the Naira Redesign Contract came from Buhari’s aide, Sabiu Tunde ‘Yusuf’, added.

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His repot has also indicated that it was the embattled former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, currently in Kuje Custodial Centre, over alleged N1.2bn in procurement fraud that implemented the redesign policy in collaboration with Sabiu, former President’s nephew.

The report said documents it obtained on the matter, yesterday, indicated that the former CBN 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.

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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 given the Naira redesign contract 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 report added.