Panic In Presidency, Media Houses Over Obazee’s CBN Investigation

There is reportedly tension among some officials in the Presidency over the content of the report of Jim Obazee, a Special Investigator examining the books of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), ahead of the submission.

Truetells Nigeria recalls that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had appointed Obazee to probe the books of the apex bank.

Sources familiar with the work of the Special Investigator told Leadership on Wednesday that highly placed aides of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu may have been indicted in the report.

One source said: “I can tell you that some very, very close aides of the President are not finding the prospects of the submission of the report funny at all.

“The former CBN governor apparently kept very extensive dossiers of his disbursements, especially in the last days of his tenure when politicians were threatening him with arrests and all that. Those involved know they’re in for a hard time.”

Sources disclosed that a few top politicians in Tinubu’s administration and even a few media houses were fingered in the report by Obazee.

A source said, “You will recall that at the height of COVID-19, the CBN created a special fund for media houses, disbursed through NISRAL. That fund has come under Obazee’s forensic audit, and it’s not looking good for those who have not repaid.”

President Tinubu had, during his October 1st Independence Day broadcast, said Nigerians would be shocked at the report’s content by the special investigator and that he was expecting it to be formally submitted in a matter of days.

Obazee, who gained prominence after his earlier encounter with overstaying corporate CEOs and heads of faith groups over implementing the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), was appointed in July to investigate the CBN.