Nigeria is requesting assistance from Interpol to apprehend three individuals who are suspected of embezzling $6.2 million (£4.9 million) from the central bank by forging the signature of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The accused are thought to have plotted with Godwin Emefiele, the former head of Nigeria’s central bank.
He is currently on trial for 20 offenses, one of which is receiving the $6.2 million illegally.
Currently free on bond, Mr. Emefiele has refuted every accusation.
He is the most well-known former official to face corruption charges since President Bola Tinubu assumed office in May of last year.
Additionally, the prosecution claims that Mr. Emefiele illegally approved the money’s extraction from the central bank vault.
He called the accusations “barefaced lies told by the investigator in order to achieve his satanic agenda” in a statement he made last December. A “thorough and transparent investigation” was demanded by him.
The state-owned News Agency of Nigeria reported that Adamu Abubakar, Imam Abubakar, and Odoh Ocheme, a former employee of the central bank, had been identified as Mr. Emefiele’s alleged collaborators.
According to the agency, the suspects are thought to have fled Nigeria, which is why the authorities have turned to Interpol for assistance in apprehending and bringing them back home.
Regarding the accusations made against them, none of the three suspects have responded.
A few hours after Boss Mustapha, a top officer in the former President Buhari’s administration, gave testimony during Mr. Emefiele’s trial, the government issued an order late on Tuesday for their arrest.
Mr. Mustapha testified before the Abuja court that neither he nor Mr. Buhari had signed a document authorizing the $6.2 million to be withheld.
According to the Nation newspaper, Mr. Mustapha told the court, “Looking at the signature, it is a faint attempt at reproducing [former] President Buhari’s signature.”
A few months prior to Mr. Buhari’s term expiring, in January of last year, the money was taken out in cash.
The paper in question, which asked the central bank to release the funds so that Mr. Buhari could use them to pay international election observers, was allegedly fabricated by Mr. Emefiele, according to the prosecution.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan nominated Mr. Emefiele to the position of governor of the central bank in 2014, and President Buhari did the same in 2019. Up until Mr. Tinubu gained office, he held the position.
