Tension in CBN, NIRSAL As FG Begins Investigation

Hints of tensions rising within the management of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Incentive Risk Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), has been reported as Special Investigator Jim Obazee for President Bola Tinubu begins his investigation

Recall that Jim Obazee was appointed by the president as a Special Investigator to look into the operations of the CBN and other related organizations.

The appointment of Obazee, according to Tinubu’s letter dated July 28, was based on the primary goal outlined in Section 15(5) of the Nigerian Constitution and was a step forward in his administration’s anti-corruption campaign.

Gistlover has gathered that Obazee, who is to report directly to the president in a letter dated. August 18, addressed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), had requested the deployment of four senior officers to his office to assist in the smooth take-off and execution of his task.

In response, the IGP granted Obazee in a letter titled “Deployment of Police Personnel” that was dated September 6 and was signed by CP Abaniwonda S. Olufemi on his behalf.

TH:5361/FS/FHQ/ABJ/T is a letter number. The deployed officers were listed as DCP Eloho Edwin Okpoziakpo, CSP Celestine Odo, CSP Segun Aderoju, and DSP Tijani A in document 5/428. Bako.

The team, led by DCP Eloho Edwin Okpoziakpo, has already started gathering preliminary intelligence and is giving the CBN and NIRSAL’s top management staff the willies.

The Anchor Borrowers Program and NIRSAL, which have been the focus of numerous investigations over the years, are among the alleged pieces of intelligence DCP Eloho and his team have developed.

Recall that President Tinubu recently issued a directive requiring the recovery of all funds allotted to these agricultural programs.

Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed, the former managing director of NIRSAL who was fired by former President Muhammadu Buhari in December of last year, is the subject of existing corruption allegations, according to Gistlover.

The Anchor Borrowers Funds were kept as fixed deposits by parties connected to the embattled CBN governor, sources within the agency told Daily Trust. This is another mystery that the investigators plan to solve.

The source said that some of the fixed deposit participants (names withheld) are currently experiencing panic.

It was discovered that a former CBN governor’s aide allegedly ran 61 bank accounts in total, including 44 fixed deposit accounts and 2 accounts for treasury bills.

A source said that in addition to looking into the N5.6 billion wheat project scandal in the states of Kano and Jigawa, the investigators would also look into the allegedly allocated sum of $600,000 per month for the former MD’s dogs’ upkeep.

The platform was also informed by some of the sources. that the IGP’S team’s investigation into some NIRSAL contracts and the Anchor Borrowers Program is giving top management at the CBN and NIRSAL sleepless nights.

A contract for the creation of the ICT Policy is reportedly among the office documents that were destroyed in an effort to thwart DCP Eloho and his team’s ongoing investigation into NIRSAL.

According to an insider source, “the record of this contract has vanished from NIRSAL’s procurement department, despite financial trails showing payments made multiple times for the same contract.“.

According to a different source, the investigation team may encounter difficulties figuring out the cause of the problem unless they employ strategies for acquiring the necessary contract records and documents.

NIRSAL’s Sheriff Salaudeen, the head of procurement, however, denied the allegations that any documents had been set on fire.

But he refrained from saying anything more, saying that he would only do so if NIRSAL was given a written request.