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Jim Obazee, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's investigator
probing the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has revealed that the government is
on the verge of recovering two banks illegally sold to former CBN governor,
Godwin Emefiele.
According
to the report, Emefiele used proxies to acquire Union Bank of Nigeria for Titan
Trust Bank Limited and Keystone Bank without any evidence of payment.
Accordingly, Obazee submitted
the report of his investigations into acquiring Union Bank and Keystone Bank to
President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday in two separate letters dated December 20,
2023.
This is
coming on the heels of findings by the investigator that Emefiele illegally
lodged billions of naira in public funds in no fewer than 593 bank accounts in
the United States, United Kingdom and China without the approval of the apex
bank's board of directors and the CBN Investment Committee.
Similarly, Emefiele was indicted for N22.7 trillion Ways and Means advance to
the Federal Government without approval from former president Muhammadu Buhari.
The revelations were contained
in the interim report submitted by Obazee to President Tinubu on December 9,
2023.
"When we carried out the investigation, we discovered that some persons
were used as proxies by Mr Godwin Emefiele to set up Titan Trust Bank and
acquire Union Bank therefrom, all from ill-gotten wealth.
"We
were able to secure some documents and investigation reports that will lead to
the forfeiture of the two banks to the federal government.
"We have completed our investigation on this acquisition and have also
held meetings with the relevant parties except for Mr Cornelis Vink, who is
currently hospitalised in Switzerland.
"Otherwise, we are on
the verge of recovering these two banks for the Federal Government."
Recall that on July 28,
President Tinubu appointed Obazee to probe the CBN after the suspension of
Emefiele, who presided over the apex bank from June 4, 2014, to June 9, 2023.
Emefiele is currently in prison for failing to meet bail conditions after
Justice Hamza Muazu had on November 22 granted him bail over N1.2 billion
procurement charges.