CBN Denies Knowledge Of Ikoyi Loot

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has washed its hands of the controversial N15 billion Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos cash haul.

CBN spokesman Isaac Okorafor told newsmen that the apex bank did not know the source of the money.

Okorafor said the CBN issues serial currencies to banks which are at liberty to give such currencies to their clients.

“I do not know the source of the money; we (CBN) only issue currencies to banks which then transmit the currencies to their customers,” Okorafor said.

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), acting on a tip-off on Wednesday, stormed an apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi Lagos where they found $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23,218,000 stacked inside a fireproof safe.

The discovery has generated controversies over who the owner of the fund is as well as the owner of the apartment where it was found.

There have been questions on the money. Why did NIA not share intelligence about the money with other agencies? If the cash was for operations two years ago, why was it lying idle in the apartment? Shouldn’t the huge cash have been kept at the Central Bank?

President Muhammadu Buhari is said to have asked the EFCC and the NIA to file briefs on the discovery to the Attorney-General of the Federation.

Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike accused his predecessor Rotimi Amaechi of being the owner of the money, saying it was part of the proceeds of the state’s turbines, which were sold. He threatened to launch a legal battle to secure the cash and urged residents to pray for its return.
Amaechi denied owning the money and the apartment in which it was recovered. He has threatened to sue those who linked him to the matter.

~The Nation