KEY POINTS
- Shonubi comes out reminding us that politics played a role in the naira redesign of 2022 under Emefiele.
- CBN failed to exercise due process in the redesigning of the naira.
- The new notes did not conform to the initial PIBs approved by President Buhari.
A former acting governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Folashodun Shonubi, said during his testimony on Wednesday that politics played a major role in the naira redesign in 2022. Testifying before the Justice Maryann Anenih of The Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, Shonubi said Emefiele had named these political actors in some of the meetings.
Shonubi said this while testifying in the ongoing trial involving Emefiele, who was acting as the CBN governor before the appointment of Godwin Emefiele as the substantive governor of the apex bank institution. Emefiele is charged with four counts: flouting the direction of law and an illegal act that occasioned breach of the public peace on the naira redesign.
Procedures potentially overlooked in currency redesign
Shonubi explained how the naira redesign process deviated from the normal practice. He added that, on a normal basis, the Currency Management Department of the CBN would make suggestions on the processes for redesigning the currency. These suggestions would then be forwarded to the Committee of Governors (COG), then to the CBN Board to arrive finally at the President.
However, he said Emefiele did not use this process but rather write a memo to the president in 2022. Shonubi disclosed further that although the recently initialized new naira notes series was launched by the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari, what was produced was not what was approved. The new notes came out after President Buhari approved a different design and people could not figure out the final product on the notes.
Witness deposition on the amount of political influence
Acccording to The Punch, Shonubi said during internal discussions, Emefiele came up with political pressures attributed to the naira redesign.
He also pointed out that he was not informed on all the communication that held between Emefiele and Buhari on the redesign process. But he pointed out that Emefiele wrote the memo recommending the redesign of the naira without any CBN committee, let alone the COG or the Board, undermining the President’s approval.
The testimony also meant that Shonubi had received an invitation from the EFCC regarding the redesign case. Meanwhile, he said there was never a time he physically attacked Emefiele during their investigation at the EFCC. He then said: the matter is adjourned till the October 9 for the further hearings.
