Emefiele Followed Buhari’s Order to Print Redesigned Naira Notes Locally — EFCC Witness

According to a prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Godwin Emefiele, the immediate former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) produced the redesigned naira notes locally on Tuesday at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, following the directive of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.

In front of Justice Maryann Anenih in Maitama, Abuja, Emefiele is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on four counts of violating the law and committing an unlawful act that harms the public.

In the charge, designated CR/264/2024, Emefiele was accused, among other things, of violating Section 19 of the CBN Act between October 19, 2022, and March 5, 2023, by permitting the printing of 375,520,000 pieces of color-swapped N1,000 notes at a total cost of N11,052,068,062 without the CBN Board’s recommendation or the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s strict approval, causing harm to the public.

According to the EFCC, he allegedly committed crimes that were punishable under Section 123 of the Penal Code, Cap. 89 Laws of the Federation, 1990.

He did, however, enter a not guilty plea.

The seventh prosecution witness, PW7, Chinedu Emere, an EFCC investigator, told the court during the case’s resumed hearing on Tuesday that Emefiele had written a memo to former President Buhari on October 6, 2022, requesting permission to redesign, produce, and reissue the redesigned N1,000, N500, N200, and N100 notes while being cross-examined by Emefiele’s attorney, Olalekan Ojo, SAN.

He claimed that in his minute on the memorandum, the former president authorized the redesign of the naira notes but instructed that the notes be produced locally.

“The defendant, Emefiele, requested approval for bank notes that were already redesigned and linked to the memoranda.

“The prior president’s minute was to complete the production. He said, “Approved.” “But to be produced locally,” PW7 stated in court.

He said that the high rate of counterfeiting, the growing scarcity of banknotes in circulation, and public stockpiling of naira notes were some of the reasons Emefiele listed for the redesign policy.

The Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, or NSPMC, received bills of settlement from CBN for the creation of the revised notes, the witness continued.

“The Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company produced the redesigned notes,” the prosecution witness said in response to a question asking the court to confirm whether the naira notes were produced by NSPMC. This complies with the presidential order to produce the Nlnaira notes locally.

He informed the court, however, that although NSPMC produced the notes domestically, a foreign business called De La Rue redesigned them.

He told the judge that in 2023, CBN paid De La Rue in British pounds sterling for the notes’ designing, while it paid NSPMC in naira for the notes’ manufacture.

The witness added that the features in the notes were also products of the foreign company, confirming that De La Rue was the company that initially designed the naira notes that were later redesigned.

He told the court that he could not recall if any of the deputy governors under Emefiele had informed the EFCC investigation team during the course of the investigation whether any Nigerian company had ever created naira notes for the Nigerian government, but that was not the investigation’s main focus.

The witness further stated that Buhari eventually introduced the revised notes, although he was unable to recall whether the former president voiced any objections.

After being assigned, the EFCC investigation team produced an investigative report, he told the court.

In the meantime, Justice Anenih ordered the prosecution to provide the defense with the investigative report in order to support its defense, even though the prosecuting attorney, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, objected to Emefiele’s attorney’s request.

The case was then postponed until Tuesday, February 10, 2026.