Recently, Edward Adamu, the fourth prosecution witness (PW4) in the trial of Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), testified before Justice Maryanne Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), High Court, Maitama, Abuja, that Emefiele did not have the approval of the CBN Board or former President Muhammadu Buhari for the 2023 redesign of naira notes, as required by law.

Under the direction of Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, the prosecution attorney, Adamu revealed during his testimony that the Director of Currency Operations typically submits a proposal to the Committee of Governors (COG) as the first step in the currency redesign process.The COG then forwards the plan to the CBN Board for approval; obtaining the president’s endorsement is the last step.

He said that Emefiele got around these processes by just calling a meeting of the COG, presenting what he believed to be a presidential approval, and immediately starting the redesign.

In October 2022, the governor notified the deputy governors that he had received explicit permission to alter the currency. That’s when I learned about it. After that, on October 26, 2022, we received official notice that the redesign had been approved by the president. Following this, the redesign of the currency was formally announced. During the meeting, the governor displayed the president’s permission by pointing to the page containing it.Following that, the board of directors held a meeting at which the president’s approval of the currency redesign was also disclosed, the speaker stated.

He went on to say that Emefiele unilaterally changed the notes’ designs, which now diverge significantly from those that were first authorized.Redesigned notes were ₦200, ₦500, and ₦1000.

The witness said that, during his tenure at the Apex Bank, this was not the practice when the defense attorney, Olalekan Ojo SAN, inquired about any cases in which a presidential consent was obtained for an activity prior to notifying the CBN Board.

At the conclusion of the cross-examination, Justice Anenih released the witness from the dock and postponed the trial to October 17, 2024.