Tunde Sabiu, former President Muhammadu Buhari's nephew, emerges as the catalyst behind the redesign of the naira notes, according to Jim Obaze, the special investigator on the CBN and related entities.
Obaze's report, submitted to President Bola Tinubu, uncovers how Sabiu advised Godwin Emefiele, the former CBN governor, to consider the overhaul. The report details that while Emefiele wrote to Buhari seeking approval for the redesign, the former president did not expressly greenlight the move, only approving the printing of the currency in Nigeria.
The CBN board learned of the policy 70 days after Emefiele awarded the contract to the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc.
The investigation also reveals that De La Rue, a UK company, was outsourced for the redesign at £205,000. Out of the allocated N61.5 billion, N31.79 billion had already been disbursed, raising questions about financial transparency.
