THE Presidency has requested the Interpol National Central Bureau to place a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) staff and two others on its Red Notice in connection with their alleged conspiracy and forging of documents in the name of former President Muhammadu Buhari to steal the sum of $6.23 million in cash from the apex bank.
The suspects are Odoh Eric Ocheme, a staff of the CBN, Adamu Abubakar and Imam Abubakar.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the request was made by the Office of the Special Investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu to probe the CBN, related entities and other key government business entities.
This is even as the government had been granted an application of warrant filed before a Federal High Court in Abuja for the arrest of the three persons and and arraign them before the court on or before May 7, this year.
The Interpol is expected to apprehend and repatriate the suspects, who are at large, from any of the Interpol members states to which they may have flown.
Recall that a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, on Tuesday, February 13, told an Abuja High Court, while testifying, that Buhari’s signature was forged to withdraw the said $6.23 million from the CBN.
Mustapha, who testified in the trial of former CBN governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said he knew nothing about the withdrawal of the money for the payment of foreign observers for last year’s general elections, as it was the responsibility of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deal with issues of election observers.
An official of the CBN had on Monday, February 12, told the court that the amount was given out in cash to an official from the office of the SGF, following approvals by Buhari and Emefiele.
