In a startling revelation, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Governor Yemi Cardoso, has disclosed that law enforcement agencies are investigating foreign exchange forwards valued at approximately $2.4 billion.
Cardoso noted that these transactions are deemed ineligible for payment.
This disclosure emerged after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held in Abuja on Tuesday, March 26.
The CBN governor shed light on the meticulous forensic audit conducted on these transactions, uncovering numerous discrepancies and rendering them invalid.
The CBN, upon settling certain tranches of FX backlog, encountered transactions marred by issues concerning their authenticity.
Consequently, Deloitte management consultants were engaged to conduct a comprehensive forensic analysis spanning several months to scrutinize the legitimacy of these forward-contracted transactions.
During the audit process, it was established that several transactions failed to meet the criteria for validation. Instances were found where allocations worth millions of dollars were disbursed without corresponding requests, and some transactions lacked proper documentation or were outright illegal.
