Witness claims Emefiele’s Naira redesign policy bypassed standard procedures

Folashodun Shonubi, a key witness in the trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Godwin Emefiele, testified in a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court that the naira redesign policy failed to adhere to standard procedures.

Shonubi, who served as acting governor of the CBN from June 9 to September 15, 2023, revealed that Emefiele acknowledged the presence of political intrigues surrounding the controversial 2022 policy during meetings.

“When we had meetings with the defendant (Emefiele), he said there were politics and intrigues around the whole exercise,” Shonubi stated, while being questioned by prosecution counsel Rotimi Oyedepo.

As the former deputy governor of operations at the apex bank, Shonubi emphasized that the redesigned naira notes issued under Emefiele did not align with those approved by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

He clarified that the memo proposing the redesign was solely authored by Emefiele, deviating from the typical process. According to Shonubi, the standard protocol requires the currency management department to recommend a redesign, followed by a submission to the committee of governors (COG) for evaluation.

After securing COG approval, the CBN board would then present a recommendation to the president. Following presidential approval, an internal committee would be formed to implement the redesign.

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Shonubi, who is also a member of the COG and CBN board, testified that Emefiele had effectively halted the recommendation for a currency redesign made by the currency management department in early 2021. “The CBN did not follow the procedures for redesigning the currency. I was a member of the CBN board as deputy governor,” he noted.

He recounted, “In early 2021, the currency department recommended the redesign of the currency notes. A paper was presented to me, and on the instruction of the governor (Emefiele), it was stepped down. In 2022, we again represented the paper and were asked to hold on.

In mid-October 2022, the deputy governors were invited to a meeting in the office of the governor, where he (Emefiele) informed us that he had presidential approval for the currency redesign. He showed us the memo, with the president’s signature and instructions on the last page.”

During cross-examination by Olalekan Ojo, the defense counsel, Shonubi stated he was unaware of any discussions between Emefiele and the former president regarding the redesign policy.

Emefiele is currently facing a four-count charge brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), concerning illegal acts that allegedly caused public injury. The trial continues to unfold as the prosecution seeks to establish the legality of the naira redesign process under Emefiele’s governance.