Without Buhari's consent, Emefiele depleted Nigeria's foreign reserves - Presidency

 According to the presidency, Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), stole billions from the foreign reserves without former President Muhammadu Buhari's consent.

This was said on Sunday in an interview with Television Continental by Ajuri Ngelale, the President's Special Advisor on Media and Publicity.

The presidential spokesman continued by saying that it is possible that many Nigerians do not think Buhari was unaware of Emefiele's misdeeds.

Ngelale added that Emefiele's position as the top governor and chairman of the CBN Board of Trustees allowed him to successfully deplete Nigeria's foreign reserve.

"Much of what was done with regard to the spending of billions of dollars from the foreign reserves was done without President Muhammad Buhari's knowledge or approval," he stated.

Yes, I want to explain how it may have happened even if it could be difficult for some people to believe.

We operate one of the few central banks in the world where the governor serves as both the chairman of the board of directors and the day-to-day CEO. It was almost like he was supervising himself.

Ngelale added that the current changes at the top bank were intended to close the loopholes that Emefiele had taken advantage of while in office.

According to the presidential adviser, Tinubu is leading the measures that will close the gaps that previously permitted wrongdoing.

"Going forward, the kind of elite conspiracy we witnessed amongst CBN officials, senior government officials, and senior private sector individuals,  they won't be able to work together to uncover weaknesses in the system because our president is an accountant and auditor who will seal those gaps, just like he did in Lagos State many years ago.

"Gov. Tinubu has conducted a thorough examination of the organizational frameworks that Godwin Emefiele used to place the country in its current predicament.

"And he has stated, even through legislation, that we will make sure that legislative changes are enacted so that this can never occur in addition to guardrails being put in place."