Emefiele complied with Buhari’s directive to produce redesigned naira notes locally – EFCC witness

Emefiele complied with Buhari’s directive to produce redesigned naira notes locally – EFCC witness

A prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, testified on Tuesday before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that the redesigned naira notes were produced domestically by the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) in accordance with a directive from the late President Muhammadu Buhari.

Emefiele is facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) under Justice Maryann Anenih at the Maitama court in Abuja. He has been charged with four counts related to disobedience of lawful direction and illegal actions resulting in public harm.

According to charge number CR/264/2024, Emefiele is accused of disobeying Section 19 of the CBN Act by approving the printing of 375,520,000 pieces of color-swapped N1,000 notes at a total cost of N11,052,068,062 between October 19, 2022, and March 5, 2023. This approval was allegedly made without the recommendation of the CBN Board and without the necessary approval from the President of Nigeria, leading to public injury.

The EFCC contends that the offenses committed by Emefiele violate Section 123 of the Penal Code, Cap 89 Laws of the Federation, 1990, which are punishable under the same law. Emefiele has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In his testimony, Emefiele cited several reasons for the naira redesign policy, including a high rate of counterfeiting, a worsening shortage of banknotes in circulation, and the hoarding of naira notes by the public.

He confirmed that the CBN issued bills of settlement to the NSPMC for the production of the redesigned notes. When asked whether the naira notes were produced by NSPMC, the witness affirmed this, stating, “The Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company produced the redesigned notes, in compliance with the presidential directive for local production.”

However, the witness also revealed that while the notes were produced locally by NSPMC, the redesign was executed by a foreign company, De La Rue. He informed the court that in 2023, the CBN made payments to De La Rue in British Pounds for the redesign while compensating NSPMC in naira for production services.

The witness clarified that De La Rue was the original designer of the naira notes subject to redesign, and the features included in the new notes were also developed by this foreign company.

He was unable to recall if any of the deputy governors under Emefiele had told the EFCC investigation team whether a Nigerian company had ever designed naira notes for the government, noting that this was not the focus of the investigation.

The witness stated that President Buhari eventually launched the redesigned notes, but he could not remember if the former President expressed any complaints regarding them. He mentioned that the EFCC investigation team produced an investigative report following their inquiry.

In a separate development, despite an objection from prosecuting counsel Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, regarding a request by Emefiele’s defense for access to the investigative report, Justice Anenih ordered the prosecution to provide the document to facilitate the defense’s case.

She then adjourned further proceedings in the case until Tuesday, February 10, 2026.