Nine of 29 directors survive as CBN implements Obazee Report

Sixteen of the twenty-nine directors heading different units of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have been disengaged, sources familiar with the operations of the apex bank told PREMIUM TIMES.

Only nine departmental directors are left at the regulatory institutions. The most senior deputy directors in affected departments are now in charge.

The disengagement comes in the wake of the implementation of some of the recommendations by Jim Obazee, the special investigator probing the activities of the apex bank under the stewardship of Godwin Emefiele, the embattled ex-governor of the apex bank.

About two hundred other employees of the bank were similarly disengaged but received their terminal benefits in full, according to insiders who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the matter.

The personnel were not accused of wrongdoing but were simply informed that their services were no longer needed, officials said.

Insiders said the directors were relieved of their duties following the implementation of the CBN special investigator’s report, which accused a number of the bank’s staff of conniving with Mr Emefiele to allegedly loot the bank.

The specific allegations against the disengaged staff members have not been disclosed, with an official saying some of the officials might be prosecuted by law enforcement agencies.

President Bola Tinubu appointed Mr Obazee last July to investigate the activities of the CBN and other related entities under the leadership of Mr Emefiele.

According to the report submitted to the president in December 2023, the investigation accused the former CBN governor of several wrongdoings, including keeping £543.5 million in fixed deposits in the UK without seeking the consent of the bank’s board of directors and investment committee and a “fraudulent cash withdrawal of $6.23 million.”

He was also said to have invested Nigeria’s money without authorisation in 593 foreign bank accounts in the UK, the US and China, manipulated the exchange rate and committed fraudulent acts in the CBN’s e-Naira project.

The report accused the ex-CBN governor of “stealing of public funds through advances to government otherwise known as Ways and Means” to the tune of N17.37 trillion.

Last Wednesday, the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the forfeiture of a property worth N11.14 billion linked to Mr Emefiele to the Nigerian Government.

The court had earlier in May granted an interim forfeiture of N$4.72 million, N830.9 million and a number of properties linked to him.

Details

The disengaged directors comprised Muhammed Rakiya Shuaibu (information technology), Aisha Isa-Olatinwo (branch operations), Mustafa Haruna Bala (financial policy & regulation), Mahmud Hassan (trade & exchange), Nwaegberue Chibuike (other financial institutions), Nnaji Ozoemena (statistics) and Efobi Chibuzo Anthony (payments system management).

Others include Habib Amina (human resources), Yusuf Phillip Yila (development finance), Eze Paulinus Chinyere (financial system strategy), Elizabeth Amos Kwaghe (currency operations), Chukwurah Maureen Omolola (medical services), Samuel Chukwuyem Okojere (banking services), Stanley Arinze A (procurement and support services), Omayuku Joseph Gbubemi (governor’s department) and Asiegbu Nkiru Eunice (special duties).

Meanwhile, three other directors exited the CBN recently on attaining the retirement age of sixty. They included Clement Oluranti Buari, who was the head of the strategy unit; Mohammed Musa Tumala, head of the monetary policy department as well as Benjamin Nnadi, head of reserve management.

While Mr Buari left in May, both Mr Tumala and Mr Nnadi retired from the bank last month.

The role of the director of the consumer protection department is currently vacant.