Goodluck said to have withdrawn £217m from CBN in bullion vans during the night

FRESH revelations have emerged former president Dr Goodluck Jonathan authorised the withdrawal of a whopping N67.2bn (£217m) in cash money from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) between November 2014 and February 2015 for so-called special services.

 

According to investigations, the two cash withdrawals were made in the build-up to the 2015 general elections. One source said that even more curious large withdrawals were made from the CBN during the period but highly classified documents showed that at least N67.2bn was withdrawn in cash in two tranches.

 

CBN insiders said that the huge cash withdrawals were carted away in bullion vans. One of the withdrawals was made through a memo which originated from the office of the former national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki, while a second memo was generated by the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (Napims), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

 

Apparently, the first memo, dated November 2014, contained a request for the withdrawal of $47m in cash out of N10bn earmarked for release for an unbudgeted set of special services. According to the memo, the balance from the N10bn was to be paid out in euros, while a certain director of finance and administration with the name S.A Salisu, was authorised to sign and receive the haul of US dollars and euro in cash, on behalf of the national security adviser's office.

 

It remains unknown what the special services, for which the funds were removed, are but some sources claim they were spent on electioneering-related matters. A second memo, raised by Napims and dated February 25, 2015 conveyed an instruction to the CBN's director of banking and payment system's department to urgently pay in cash, the sum of $289,202,382 to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

 

This payment instruction in favour of the NIA was signed by Okonkwo Godwin, the general manager, finance of Napims on February 25, 2015. According to some sources at the CBN, the funds were taken away at night with bullion vans under heavy security guard.

 

If true, these withdrawals are in violation of Nigeria’s Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011, which Dr Jonathan personally assented to. Section 16 (d) of the act says anyone who makes or accepts cash payments exceeding the amount authorised under this act shall upon conviction be liable to a forfeiture of 25% of the excess above the limits placed in section 1 of the Act.