Exposed! How CBN Emptied Its Vaults to Finance PDP's Presidential Campaign

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) practically emptied its vaults apparently to finance the presidential campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), sources conversant with investigations into security spending in the last administration have informed TheCable.

 

The news platform had earlier reported the extra-budgetary disbursement of N40 billion to the office of the national security adviser and N20 billion to the Department of State Services (DSS) by the CBN, but fresh revelations indicate that the monies were released in dollar cash contrary to all money laundering regulations.

 

They were taken directly from the dollar reserve vaults of the central bank. Security sources disclosed that in August 2014, Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, called a board meeting and asked for an approval of N60 billion to support the security services under a “special security intervention fund” he intended to create.

 

Emefiele, who is also chairman of the board, told the members that the money was needed to equip the military to fight the insurgency in the north-east following a series of onslaughts by Boko Haram. Some board members reportedly cautioned him against such an audacious move, advising instead that the expenditure should be tied to procurement, but he was said to have rejected the advice.

 

This was shortly after he had secured approval from President Goodluck Jonathan to disburse the funds. Sambo Dasuki, retired colonel and then NSA, had twice requested for N60 billion in documents seen by reporters and was only successful at third attempt following Jonathan’s intervention.

 

In the new documents seen by TheCable, the former NSA regularly wrote to Emefiele asking him to disburse the approved money in hard currency equivalent, usually in tranches of N10 billion.