The former Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele got an annual renumeration of 350 million Naira during his tenure at the apex bank, placing his compensation in the class of Nigeria’s highest-paid executives, despite occupying a public office.
The revelations were made in the Court of Appeal ruling which had overturned an initial forfeiture order against a series of properties linked to Emefiele.
Recall that the Court had in a split decision, held that the lower court had not fully evaluate the evidence presented in the original forfeiture proceedings. Hence, it set aside the ruling and ordered a fresh hearing, noting that “When the Emefiele left Zenith bank, his severance allowance was N1,750,000,000, while his Zenith bank shares is valued at N500,000,000, and as central bank governor his annual pay was N350,000,000 with quarterly reimbursement of N75,000,000, excluding estacodes paid at $6,285,000”
The Court released Emefiele’s annual earnings following EFCC’s claims that property linked to the former CBN Governor, was acquired through unlawful means. In fact, the anti graft agency had told the court that Emefiele failed to produce evidence of legitimate funds used to acquire the properties.
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However, in his defence, Emefiele presented documents showing his income history from Zenith Bank, where he previously served as Managing Director, and his 10-year tenure as CBN Governor. It was on this basis that the court began to question whether the EFCC had sufficiently proven that the properties were acquired illegally.
In his ruling, Justice Abdulazeez Anka, who delivered the lead judgment, observed that Emefiele’s total declared earnings could indeed afford the assets in question.
