The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says the integrity of its
Governor, Godwin Emefiele remains unassailable. The apex bank in a statement
issued on Sunday by its Director, Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor said
that the use of selective wire-taped conversations of its management, to malign
Emefiele’s character and integrity will not stand.
Okoroafor in the statement denied that the conversation
which was released by an online news platform was about a fraudulent
transaction.
“The purported audio recording of selective conversations
amongst the Governor, Deputy Governor and some Senior Officials. Contrary to
the headline-grabbing narrative that the discussion was about a fraudulent
transaction, this conversation the beginnings of which was omitted to create a
different impression was simply to proffer solutions to a misunderstanding that
affected the Bank’s balance sheet.
“The integrity of the CBN Governor remains
unassailable. He has no account in Dubai
or anywhere in the world and would never convert the funds of CBN for personal
use,” the statement read in part.
He also described the leaded audio conversation as false and
misleading, denying any fraudulent transactions of missing N500 billion. CBN’s
spokesman explained that that the misleading audio relates to the meeting of
its top officials on reconciliation of balance sheet items and part of regular
conversations.
“The Bank provided
about N650 billion in loans at 9% with a two-year grace period to 35 States of
the Federation. These monies were distributed to the States monthly with
documented approval of the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Presidency,”
Okoroafor added.
The bank noted that the bailout was erroneously classified
by external auditors as bad loans, stressing that Ministry of Finance and CBN
gave comfort to auditors in writing that “these monies would be repaid.”
Accordingly, CBN vowed to “pursue every
legal means to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
