Summary of Claims:
Social media has been awash with a report making the rounds that the embattled former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele has been forced to refund N4 trillion he allegedly looted to the federal government.
In the same report a former CBN Deputy Governor, Tunde Lemo, also allegedly refunded $500 million supposedly looted taxpayers’ money.
Also in the report is the claim of the discovery of $275 million in the bank account of a six-year-old son of Sabiu Yusuf, a.k.a Tunde, a Personal Assistant to former President Muhammadu Buhari. The report went on to allege yet another N1.5 trillion was discovered in the personal account of the former Personal assistant to former President Buhari.
Body of Claims:
“The former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has reportedly refunded a whopping N4 trillion to the coffers of the Federal Government stolen while he was the at the helm of affairs of the apex bank.
“According to a source close to the investigators, besides reportedly returning N4 trillion, Emefiele also allegedly gave up ownership of six banks linked to him.”
“In a related development, the source revealed that a former CBN Deputy Governor, Tunde Lemo, also reportedly refunded $500 million embezzled taxpayers’ money.”
“The most shocking of all, however, was the discovery of $275 million in the bank account of a six year old son of Sabiu Yusuf, a.k.a Tunde, a Personal Assistant to former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Also discovered was another N1.5 trillion in the personal account of the former Personal assistant to former President Buhari.”
“The source said: “The Special Investigator, Jim Osayande Obazee and his committee, allegedly discovered $275 million in an account in a new generation bank belonging to six years old son of Sabiu Yusuf.”
“Another N1.5 trillion also allegedly traced to Yusuf, a very influential member of the former President Mohammadu Buhari’s Govt.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is currently negotiating, using some influential Nigerians on how to refund the funds without being exposed.”
“Only recently, National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, lamented that the current administration inherited a bankrupt country from the Buhari’s government due to the large-scale looting that occurred then.”
“It could be recalled that Tinubu employed the services of Mr. Obazee, a Special Investigator, to investigate the activities of CBN under Emefiele and related entities.”
“So far, Obazee has recovered over N12 trillion looted mostly by members of the former President Buhari’s administration.”
“The source also claimed that the committee has also rejected several millions of Dollars in bribe offers from former members of the Buhari’s Government to avoid being arrested and exposed.”
What we know
BRANDPOWER recalls that the former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, was first arrested on Friday, June 9, 2023 by the Department of State Services (DSS) after he was suspended by President Bola Tinubu.
He was released on bail on Tuesday, July 26, 2023, but was immediately by DSS yet again and was later arraigned over alleged illegal possession of firearms and misappropriation of funds. DSS would however later withdraw that charge but still kept him in detention nonetheless.
Emefiele was subsequently released by DSS on October 26 but he was promptly arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes commission (EFCC) on the same day and detained.
Emefiele was thereafter arraigned on a-six count by the Economic and Financial Crimes commission (EFCC) bordering on procurement fraud to the tune of N6.9billion, conferment of advantage.
Emefiele was released after spending 151 days in custody, following the order of Justice Olukayode Adeniyi of the same High Court of the FCT on his enforcement of his right.
The anti-graft agency had in August, first charged Emefiele and Mrs Sa’adatu Yaro and a company, April 1616 Investment Limited, purported to belong to Mrs Yaro, on alleged breach of the procurement Act in respect of the purchase of some vehicles.
However, the arraignment could not go on because of the reported ill health of Mrs Yaro.
However, when the matter was called in November, EFCC’s lawyer, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, drew the attention of the court to an amended charge dated Nov. 8, 2023.
In the new charge Emefiele was the sole defendant and the charge reduced from 20 to six, to which Emefiele pleaded not guilty.
Verification of Claims:
BRANDPOWER’s fact-check team examined all related stories within the Nigerian media space and discovered that not a single credible news outlet had carried any such report about any purported forfeiture by Emefiele or Tunde Lemo, nor any discovery of looted funds from any member of Buhari’s inner circle.
The story and unsubstantiated claims however, continue to trend in many ubiquitous online platforms and on the Twitter handles of several high-traffic individuals. It is also being shared widely on WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook.
The Federal Ministry of Finance has, however, reportedly confirmed that it has no such record of such humungous refunds.
Also, Mr Emefiele’s family has debunked the story as patently false and a further attempt aimed at flagrantly maligning the reputation of the professional banker.
According to Emefiele’s family, “This is another lie. The same pattern of lies they have been writing about Godwin Emefiele to destroy his name and reputation. If you follow his persecution, you will clearly see that it is a case of pure witch-hunting and harassment of someone who served this country to the best of his ability. People know the truth. The world knows what is going on. His sin is the Naira redesign policy, which former President, Muhammadu Buhari, has said he approved to protect our elections from vote buying and fraud.
“Nigeria just passed a N2.1 trillion supplementary budget that is being funded by borrowing. Will it need to borrow if it has such so-called refunded money?” said a family source.
PR Nigeria reports that the 2022 operational income of the apex bank was N2.15 trillion, including the “credit loss expenses of N875bn, of which N610bn was part losses linked to loans and receivables;” according to Budgit Foundation reports on CBN financial statements.
Also, according to the Nairametrics report, the audited financials of CBN put the apex bank “net operating income at N1.2 trillion compared to N1.1 trillion in the same period in 2021. Total operating expenses also rose from N1.1 trillion in 2021 compared to N1.2 trillion in 2022.
Another verification equally revealed that CBN “spent a total of N1.2 trillion on personnel costs in seven years and recorded a net income of N520.04 billion.”
Comparatively, the CBN’s operating income of N2.15 trillion and N1.2 trillion expenditure in 7 years is far below the alleged N4trillion looted refunds by the embattled former CBN helmsman.
Hence, the N4 trillion refunds in questions is above the annual operating income of the central bank of Nigeria.
The Fact of the Matter:
BRANDPOWER can confirm that there is absolutely no truth in the claims of the humungous refunds by either Godwin Emefiele or Tunde Lemo as there is no credible and verifiable evidence that such monies hit the nation’s accounts.
There is equally no evidence to support the claims that various eye-popping Naira and Dollar sums were indeed found in Sabiu Yusuf son’s bank accounts.
It is also very clear that the government would be only too glad to officially announce this kind of news if it was indeed true as it would reflect well on its avowed efforts to fight corruption and recover the looted assets of the nation.
BRANDPOWER can thus confirm that the stories are pure fiction and should be discountenanced by the public.