emefiele (1).jpg
The EFCC has filed new charges accusing former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele of illegally printing naira notes without required approvals during the controversial 2022 currency redesign.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has escalated its legal offensive against Godwin Emefiele, the embattled former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), filing fresh charges accusing him of illegally printing naira notes without proper approvals.

In a four-count charge sheet revealed on Tuesday, the anti-graft agency alleges that between October 2022 and March 2023, Emefiele "knowingly disobeyed" directives under the CBN Act by approving the printing of over 684 million new naira notes across various denominations totaling over N18.9 billion in costs. This was done, the EFCC claims, without either a recommendation from the CBN's board or the "strict approval" of then-President Muhammadu Buhari as required by law.

The allegations strike at the heart of one of the most explosive scandals from Emefiele's tumultuous tenure atop Nigeria's apex bank - the controversial naira redesign policy that sparked nationwide cash shortages and violent protests as the old currency notes were pulled from circulation. While Buhari had publicly backed the redesign, the EFCC charge suggests Emefiele may have overstepped his authority in how the policy was implemented.

Beyond the illegal printing allegations, prosecutors are also accusing the 61-year-old of separately approving the withdrawal of over N124 billion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund "in a manner not prescribed by the National Assembly," amounting to a violation of constitutional spending controls.

With these fresh charges, Emefiele now faces an intricate legal web spun by the EFCC. He had previously been hit with allegations of criminal breach of trust, forgery, fraud, and abuse of office related to his CBN tenure in separate court cases in Abuja and Lagos where he has pleaded not guilty.

His ultimate undoing, however, appears directly tied to the botched naira redesign policy he championed as a way to curb illicit financial flows and money hoarding. As cash shortages triggered anger and economic disruption nationwide ahead of the 2023 elections, the embattled governor insisted the decision was correct despite growing calls for his firing. While many analysts viewed the redesign push as nakedly political and economically haphazard, Emefiele maintained it was a necessary if imperfectly implemented step, putting him on a direct collision course with the new Tinubu administration upon taking office.

With his arraignment and prosecution now official, a made-for-drama legal showdown looms that could further tarnish the reputation of Nigeria's financial stewardship and its central bank on the global stage. For Emefiele, it represents a stunning fall from grace for a figure who just years ago was the powerful architect of the nation's monetary policy.