A prosecution witness on Tuesday told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja that the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, complied with a directive by the late President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that the redesigned naira notes were produced locally.
The witness, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Chinedu Emere, gave the testimony while being cross-examined in the ongoing trial of Emefiele before Justice Maryann Anenih at the Maitama division of the court.
Emefiele is facing a four-count charge filed by the EFCC over alleged disobedience to lawful directives and actions said to have caused injury to the public during the naira redesign exercise carried out between October 2022 and March 2023.
According to the charge marked CR/264/2024, the former CBN governor allegedly approved the printing of over 375 million pieces of redesigned N1,000 notes at a cost of about N11.05bn without the recommendation of the CBN Board and the required presidential approval, an allegation he has denied.
While testifying, Emere said Emefiele, in a memorandum dated October 6, 2022, formally sought Buhari’s approval to redesign and reissue the N1,000, N500, N200 and N100 denominations.
He told the court that Buhari approved the request but expressly directed that the production of the redesigned notes must be done within Nigeria.
“The President minuted on the memo: ‘Approved. But to be produced locally,’” the witness said, adding that the directive was complied with.
Emere explained that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company handled the physical production of the notes, in line with the presidential instruction, while a foreign firm, De La Rue, was responsible for the redesign.
He further told the court that while De La Rue was paid in foreign currency for the redesign work, the NSPMC was paid in naira for producing the banknotes.
The witness also said the reasons advanced by Emefiele for the redesign policy included the high rate of counterfeiting, cash shortages and hoarding of naira notes by members of the public.
During the proceedings, Justice Anenih ordered the prosecution to make its investigative report available to the defence, despite objections from the EFCC’s lead counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN.
The judge subsequently adjourned the case until February 10, 2026, for continuation of hearing.