Emefiele: Buhari’s signature was forged in payment of $6.2m to election observers

The troubles of former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele appears to be multiplying. At his trial on Tuesday, the immediate past Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, alleged that former President Muhammadu Buhari’s signature was forged in the fraudulent payment of $6.2 million to foreign election monitoring observers.

Mustapha said that the letter credited to Buhari as author did not emanate from the Presidency while another one purported to have emanated from him and signed by him were forged documents.

Mustapha made the clarifications on Tuesday while giving evidence in the trial of Emefiele at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.

He said that one Jubrin Abubakar, who allegedly collected the $6.2 million cash on February 8, 2023, under the watch of Emefiele, was not a staff of the Office of the SGF and was not known to him.

Mustapha faulted two letters alleged to have emanated from the Presidency under Buhari and the Office of the SGF, noting that the letters did not conform to the standard with which the Presidency and SGF writes letters.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had alleged that Emefiele forged the letters to defraud the Federal Government.

Recall that a prosecution witness, Onyeka Ogau, testified in the trial of Emefiele on Monday that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari approved the sum of $6.2 million (N2.9 billion) for payment of election monitors of the 2023 general elections.

Ogau, a former Branch Controller of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said he received the request to give his layer of approval to the cash request on 8 January 2023, according to a statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) providing highlights of the witness’ testimony on Monday.