The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, said on Monday that a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Charles Chukwuma, has no case to answer regarding investigations into allegations of bribery involving Securency Pty Ltd of Australia and officials of both the CBN and the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting (NSPM) Plc over the supply of polymer substrate to Nigeria.
EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, who spoke at a press conference in Abuja, said after extensive investigation, the commission found that Soludo had nothing to do with the matter.
Following the October 1, 2009 launch of the polymer bank notes in Nigeria, which saw the N5, N10, and N50 notes remade in polymer material as against the original paper version, a scandal broke that CBN and NSPM officials received bribes to effect the switch to polymer.
In January 2013, the EFCC summoned Soludo (as Governor of CBN and chairman of the Board of NSPM at the time the alleged offence was committed) to clarify matters and state what he knew about the matter.
Soludo had consistently maintained his innocence in the polymer scandal and shortly after Lamorde’s comment, Soludo said that “I am impressed by the professionalism of the Commission especially in making the result of its investigation public.
“In early November last year (2014), I wrote to the Commission demanding for the outcome of the investigation, and it replied stating that its investigation did not establish any culpability on my part. I simply put the letter in my file.
“Well, I always knew that there was nothing to it as far as I was concerned, and I did not know anything about the said allegations. What impresses me is that the Chairman and the Commission have displayed professional integrity by making its findings public especially in the light of the negative publicity that attended my invitation and interview at the Commission in January 2013. I left office six years ago, and I believe that this is good for Nigeria.”
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