Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Ibrahim Ramalan
Published on 2024-02-22 18:53:36
Top officials at the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and other commercial banks have alleged witch-hunt and undue intimidation by Jim Obazee, the Special Investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu to probe a former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, even after his mandate had since expired.
President Tinubu, in a letter dated July 28, 2023, had named Mr Obazee, the former Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, FRC, as the special investigator for the apex bank. The investigation led by Mr Obazee and his team had submitted their report to the president, indicting the embattled former CBN governor of misappropriation of fund through contract scam and other frauds.
However, after submitting the report, Mr Obazee’s presidential mandate expired on Friday, December 1, 2023 through a letter exclusively sighted by DAILY NIGERIAN correspondent. In the letter, dated November 29, 2023, and titled: ‘Expeditious conclusion of the Special Investigation into the Operations of the Central Bank of Nigeria’, the President directed the committee to submit their final report on or before Friday, December 1, 2023.
Months after the expiration of his presidential mandate, Mr Obazee’s team is allegedly intimidating some officials of the CBN as well as commercial bank executives. Sources familiar with the matter disclosed Mr Obazee was pursuing a personal vendetta, particularly targeting government officials associated with the CBN.
According to reports, seven CBN staff members have had their homes invaded by Obazee’s team, and their phones were confiscated and contents forcibly accessed. Furthermore, there were reports that Obazee led a raid on the residence of a former Accountant General of a Northern state under the guise of a whistleblower tip about substantial sums of money, resulting in the discovery of a mere N10 million. It is alleged that Mr Obazee is working with a Deputy Commissioner of Police who mobilizes policemen for the alleged illegal raids.
Further revelations suggested that Mr Obazee had invaded the Abuja home of the former Deputy Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Adaora Umeoji, under the guise of whistleblower information. It is also claimed that Mr Obazee is working with a FBI-trained cybersecurity expert to invade suspects’ privacy by decrypting confiscated phones.
There are allegations that Mr Obazee is deceiving President Tinubu to orchestrate the removal of bank executives, to pave the way for his own allies. He has been operating from the presidential wing of Transcorp Hilton Abuja, targeting heads of government agencies and encroaching on the jurisdiction of institutions like EFCC.
It is evident that this matter requires the urgent attention of the president to preserve the principles of transparency, accountability, and the rule of law in Nigeria.
When contacted, Mr Obazee told our correspondent that he was in a meeting and did not reply to a text message seeking his reaction on the matter. It is clear that this situation needs to be addressed urgently to ensure the integrity of the investigation and to protect the rights and privacy of the individuals involved. Measures need to be taken to prevent any further undue intimidation and ensure that the investigation process is conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
Read the original article on DailyNigerian.com
