The immediate past Secretary of the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, has accused Godwin Emefiele, a former central bank chief, of moving US$6,230,000 from the bank’s vault using forged signatures for himself and ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.
The said amount was reportedly withdrawn under Emefiele’s supervision on February 8, 2023, to pay international election observers who monitored the 2023 general election on February 25 and March 18.
Mustapha, in court on Tuesday, exonerated himself and Buhari from the fraud. He said he knew nothing about the transaction.
He told Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja that the memo directing the apex bank to make the payment did not come from his office or the office of the President (Buhari).
Everything about the document, from the letterhead to the signature, was forged because it is not the responsibility of the President to finance foreign election observers, according to Mustapha.
Mustapha’s testimony compounds the legal woes and charges stacked against Emefiele, the ex-CBN chief, Emefiele. It also underscores the lack of oversight by former president Muhammadu Buhari who confirmed the authority of Emefiele, who had served as CBN governor for one year before Buhari came into power in 2015.
—Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
