Godwin Emefiele’s revelations over activities of the Dangote Group and BUA Plc was part of the reasons why the officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) raided the headquarters of the companies in Lagos.
It was alleged that the former CBN Governor during interrogation told his interrogators how the two companies received foreign exchange worth millions of US Dollars without following due process.
Emefiele allegedly revealed how the companies were given preferential treatment in the allocation of foreign exchange which was considered to have contradicted the federal government’s financial regulations and the CBN Act.
He was also alleged to have revealed that Dangote Group was allocated foreign exchange at a time to the tune of $4bn as well as tax waivers running into billions of Naira.
Emefiele was also alleged to have revealed that he single handedly allocated the sum of $750m at the rate of N400/$ to the Dangote Group within the period under probe which was not approved by the then President, Muhammadu Buhari.
Further revelations by the former CBN Governor according to an official of EFCC who pleaded for anonymity include the alleged involvement of some officials of the CBN in the funding of the Dangote Refinery in Lagos.
It will be recalled that officials of the EFCC had last Saturday raided the headquarters of the Dangote Industries Limited located in Ikoyi, Lagos and that of the BUA Towers situated at PC 32, Churchgate Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The action of the EFCC was said to have been in connection with its investigation into alleged abuse of the foreign exchange allocations spearheaded by the former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
It will also be recalled that while the officials of the Dangote Group confirmed the raid and disclosed that they were cooperating with the EFCC and have supplied relevant documents, the BUA Group insisted that its office was not visited by EFCC officials.
Meanwhile, the EFCC has summoned some officials of the Dangote Group to appear in their Abuja offices today (Tuesday) to bring with them detailed documents on their foreign exchange transactions in the last nine years.
However, indications emerged during the weekend that some top northern elite and political bigwigs particularly those who served under the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari are working towards putting an end to the ongoing probe of Dangote.
A highly placed source yesterday told Nigerian Pilot that talks are currently ongoing over the matter to enable the current administration of President Bola Tinubu give Dangote Group a waiver or a possible fine to remit to the Federal Government if the company is actually found guilty of any wrong doing.
According to the source, President Tinubu and other top northern elite alongside his economic team would be meeting over the issue soon.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
