Fact Check: Did Former CBN Governor, Emefiele Refund N4Trillion Looted Money?

Claims: There is a news report making the rounds that the estranged former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele allegedly refunded N4 trillion looted money to the federal government.

Full Text: According to the online media that circulated this emerging claims, the “Ex-CBN Governor, Emefiele Refunds N4 Trillion, Lemo $500m, As Special Investigator Officer, Obazee, Recovers N12 Trillion From Looted MoneyJim Osayande Obazee, the Special Investigator to investigate the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and related entities, has recovered over 12 Trillion looted mostly by members of the former President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration.#Cbn”(sic)

One of those that followed the news of these latest claims had this to say: “I am speechless… So this could happen under Mr integrity. Nigeria is in a mess and the future of Nigeria is bleaked”…

Another X user (june12 Mandate @Gen_buhar), shared the story with a different caption as follows, “Shocking: Emefiele refunds N4tr, Lemo $500m, $275m and N1.9 tr found with Buhari’s P.A.”

Recall 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 later released on bail on Tuesday, July 26, 2023 but was immediately re-arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged illegal possession of firearms and misappropriation of funds.

Verification: Inorder to ascertain the originality of the claims, PRNigeria fact-check team examined related stories across the Nigerian news ecosystem but there was no reputable media platform that had reported any forfeiture by the ex-cbn governor despite the fact that blogging sites like Nairaland carried the story. 

Further online search revealed that the only closest report to the claim as reported by trusted and verifiable news platform was the reported recovery of N1.9 trillion within two months after the naira redesign on 30 January, 2023 as claimed by Emifiele himself while he was still CBN Governor. 

Fact Check investigation found that the claim was first posted on X (formally Twitter) by Jackson Ude, a journalist and the tweet, which has since gone viral, has gathered over 82,000 views, 934 likes and 684 reposts.

“Jim Osayande Obazee, the Special Investigator to investigate the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and related entities, has recovered over N12 trillion looted mostly by members of the former President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration. The former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, allegedly returned N4 trillion, gave up ownership of six Banks linked to him, while a Deputy Governor, Tunde Lemo, refunded $500 million. The Committee has also rejected several millions of Dollars in bribe offers from former members of the Buhari’s Government”, Ude tweeted.

PRNigeria reached out to the Ministry of Finance to confirm the validity of the report but the ministry confirmed that it has no such record of such humungous refund. 

Mr Emefiele’s family while speaking to The Will, have also described the report as false and an attempt to continue to malign the reputation of the banker.

“This is another lie. 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.

Additional investigation by PRNigeria revealed 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.

Moreso, 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 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 N4trillion refunds in questions is above the annual operating income of the central bank of Nigeria. 

PRNigeria observed that at the time of the circulation of this claim, the former CBN boss was still in custody and had no verifiable report of entering an official plea bargain.

However, there have been grapevine reports suggesting so. 

In September, Sahara Reporters exclusively reported that the embattled former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, is set to be released from the detention of the Department of State Services (DSS) after his plea bargain with the President Bola Tinubu’s administration has been concluded, Sahara Reporters has learnt.

Sahara Reporters further gathered that the non-prosecution plea bargain for Emefiele was being premised upon the former governor’s willingness to return N50billion which he had corruptly amassed.

This was followed by unconfirmed report that Mr Emefiele was reportedly set to return over N 1.6 billion to secure a plea bargain.

This is as a Federal High Court in Abuja has given him until January 25 to appear in court to explain circumstances surrounding the $53 million-judgment debt arising from the Paris Club refund.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Joe Agi, had initiated a garnishee proceeding against the CBN for the purpose of recovering a judgment debt of $70m from Linas International Limited and the Minister of Finance.

According to a court document, Form 15 (Judgment Summons), following the garnishee order absolute, the CBN had paid Agi part of the $70m, leaving a balance of $53m.

Meanwhile, Mr Emefiele was granted bail from detention on Wednesday to the sum of N300 million and two sureties in like sum. 

According to Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court Abuja, the sureties must have certificates of occupancy and titles of properties within the Maitama District.

Emefiele is mandated to deposit all his travel documents with the registrar of the court and must remain within the Abuja Municipal Council.

He is expected to remain in Kuje Correctional Centre pending when he meets the bail conditions.

Emefiele was absent Wednesday morning for the ruling on his bail application. His lawyer, Mr Mathew Burkaa, however, said it was normal, as he is already at the Kuje Correctional Centre.

PRNigeria recalls that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Emefiele on a six-count charge bordering on alleged procurement fraud.The original charge, which was 20 counts of N6.5bn, was reduced to six counts, to N1.6bn. 

Conclusion: Findings by PRNigeria revealed that there is no credible and verifiable evidence to the claim that former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele has refunded the sum of 4 trillion naira and his arraignment by the EFCC was a six counts of N1.6bn not N4 Trillion.

PRNigeria therefore concludes that the claims that the former CBN boss refunded N4 trillion looted money lacks enough evidence to substantiate the claims.

By PRNigeria