The newest annual audit of the Workplace of the Auditor-Normal of the Federation has uncovered recent breaches within the Central Bank of Nigeria’s currency-management operations beneath former governor Godwin Emefiele.
The report reveals that the apex bank reissued N29.77 billion value of “Counted Audited Soiled” banknotes in 2022, violating its personal Clear Observe Coverage.
The irregular issuances occurred throughout CBN branches in Abuja, Lagos, Bauchi, and Jos between April and December 2022.
Abuja alone launched N28.615 billion of the condemned notes inside simply three months—October to December 2022. Lagos issued N970 million in December 2022, Bauchi launched N30 million in April, whereas Jos provided N50 million and N100 million on Could 16 and Could 27, respectively.
Auditors stated the releases breached the Clear Observe Coverage (Model 0.1, 2018), which mandates that solely authenticated match notes could re-enter circulation whereas all unfit notes have to be withdrawn and destroyed. They warned that the motion weakened inner controls, uncovered Nigeria to reputational injury, and shortened the lifespan of circulating notes.
CBN’s explanations rejected as auditors flag widespread management failures
The CBN branches provided completely different explanations. Abuja attributed the releases to money shortage throughout the COVID-era disruptions. Lagos blamed seasonal demand throughout Christmas. Jos linked its motion to navy money requests in durations of heightened insecurity. Bauchi denied issuing any unfit notes.
Auditors rejected all explanations as “not passable,” insisting the breaches stand till the CBN implements corrective steps. They beneficial that the Public Accounts Committees of the Nationwide Meeting summon the CBN governor and administration to justify the violations and apply sanctions beneath the Monetary Laws the place justification fails.
Delayed destruction of condemned notes exposes new weaknesses
The audit additionally disclosed delays in destroying already-condemned notes. It discovered that 997 bins of N10 notes valued at N99.7 million, marked unfit since November 2021, have been nonetheless sitting within the vault as of October 2023. One other 695 bins of N500 notes valued at N3.475 billion, processed between October and November 2022, have been additionally awaiting destruction.
In complete, N3.57 billion value of condemned notes had gathered attributable to delays in briquetting and disposal.
Auditors warned that the backlog created dangers of pilferage, lack of public funds and inefficiencies within the bank’s currency-management operations. The CBN stated briquetting had commenced, however auditors rejected the reason and upheld their findings.
What you must know
The problems surfaced throughout the rollout of the naira redesign programme, introduced on October 26, 2022, which triggered nationwide money shortages, authorized battles, and a Supreme Courtroom ruling extending the validity of outdated notes.
Though the audit doesn’t instantly indict Emefiele, it locations accountability on the CBN management of the interval for violating note-handling protocols and failing to implement correct controls.
In the meantime, the Federal Authorities is prosecuting Emefiele in a number of instances dealt with by the EFCC and the Workplace of the Legal professional-Normal of the Federation, together with a 19-count fraud case in Lagos, a 20-count procurement case in Abuja, and several other forex-allocation and corruption-related fees earlier than the Federal Excessive Courtroom and the FCT Excessive Courtroom.
The audit workplace insisted that CBN officers should seem earlier than the Nationwide Meeting to defend the breaches and description corrective actions.
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