President Bola Tinubu’s Special
Investigator, Jim Obazee recounted his involvement in the selection of Godwin
Emefiele as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), while the Abuja
High Court sat in silence last Friday.
Ex-CBN Governor Emefiele, charged
by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), is facing criminal
breach of trust, forgery, abuse of office, conspiracy to obtain by false
pretence and obtaining money by false pretence while serving as CBN governor.
He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Following the suspension and
dismissal of the former CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, a rigorous selection
process began. Segun Agbaje, Managing Director of GTCO Holdings, initially
emerged as the top candidate but ultimately declined the appointment for health
reasons, leaving an urgent vacancy at the apex bank.
To avoid a leadership vacuum,
then-President Goodluck Jonathan sent a letter to the Senate President David
Mark on February 20, 2014, requesting expedited approval of Emefiele’s
nomination. The Senate confirmed Emefiele on March 26, 2014, and he formally
assumed office at the CBN on June 4, 2014. He was dismissed nine years later,
on June 10, 2023.
Testifying as the federal
government’s star witness before Justice Hamza Muazu, the Special Investigator,
told the court that his relationship with Emefiele predated the latter’s
appointment and current criminal proceedings.
Obazee, who served as the first
Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) stated,
“My Lord, I know the defendant very closely”.
“I first knew him as the Group
Managing Director of Zenith Bank, and our paths crossed again while he was
being considered for the CBN governor role.”
Obazee described how President
Jonathan personally involved him in the recruitment process.
“After Sanusi’s suspension,
President Jonathan called me and said he would send Godwin Emefiele to meet
with me. I prepared questions and answers for the interview, and when Emefiele
arrived, we rode together to the Presidential house in the Villa.
The interview was conducted by
President Jonathan, with me serving as secretary and taking notes.”
To prepare Emefiele for his new
role, Obazee said he was directed to continually engage with Emefiele for him
to understand the workings of the central bank.
Obazee also provided him with
minutes from the last six months of meetings of the Committee of Governors
under former CBN governors Charles Soludo and Sanusi Lamido to bring him up to
date with decisions and issues at the apex bank.
“I also gave Emefiele textbooks
on managing a central bank, which I later collected after Emefiele assumed
office”, he said.
Recalling their first day at the
CBN, Obazee said, “We were both staying at the Transcorp Hilton. On his
resumption day, I called him to my room, removed the Zenith Bank lapel from his
suit and replaced it with the Nigerian flag from mine, telling him, ‘You are
now our staff.’
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