The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, has announced that the Federal Government is on the verge of unveiling the audit report from its probe into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This probe was initiated by President Bola Tinubu on July 28, 2023, and entrusted to Jim Obazee, a former Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, who was appointed as the Special Investigator for the CBN. The President made it clear that this investigation would extend to key Government business entities and that Obazee would report directly to the President’s Office.
Akume, during a press conference in Abuja on the occasion of Nigeria’s 63rd Independence anniversary, highlighted that the forthcoming report on the CBN’s probe would shed light on how poor governance practices contributed to the country’s current challenges.
He emphasized that the report’s release would provide Nigerians with a comprehensive understanding of what went wrong and how the nation arrived at its present situation.
According to Akume, many of the issues confronting Nigeria can be attributed to governance failures. He lauded President Tinubu for taking decisive action at the CBN, leading to a significant improvement in the capital market. This, he claimed, was an unprecedented achievement in the past 15 years.
“Most of these problems confronting us are due to bad governance. The present government has confronted and is confronting these challenges. When President Bola Tinubu came on board, he took a very sound decision at the CBN. That singular act led to a massive improvement in the capital market, as experts have told us, it is something that has never happened in the past 15 years.”
President Tinubu, in a letter dated July 28, 2023, instructed Obazee to ensure that the probe uncovered any government funds in the possession of private individuals. The President invoked Section 15(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), which outlines the fundamental objective of the government in combating corruption. This directive marked the beginning of the investigation, with Obazee reporting directly to the President’s Office.
Recent reports revealed that Obazee had already submitted an interim report to the President’s office more than a week prior. The preliminary findings were handed over for the necessary action by the President and his team. While the investigation was ongoing, the interim report aimed to provide the President with an overview of the discoveries made thus far.
The contents of the interim report are expected to inform key decisions that will help the country progress. These decisions may have already led to changes in leadership at the CBN, although this information has not been independently verified as of the time of reporting.
The President and his team are presently reviewing the interim report, with an eye toward making appropriate decisions in the near future. One notable aspect of the investigation is its criticism of the CBN’s annual financial reports, which were recently made public. As a result, there is a possibility that the CBN may be asked to retract its audited annual financial reports.
In August, the CBN released its financial accounts covering the years 2016 to 2022. This move coincided with the ongoing probe of the financial services sector regulator by the Special Investigator appointed by President Tinubu.
