A video circulating on social media shows a Facebook user claiming Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), returned N4 trillion to the federal government.
In the video, spanning one minute, 15 seconds, a narrator quoted his source of information as “the news”.
“I just read on the news that Emefiele had just returned N4 trillion. It is not N4 million N40 million, or N400 million. It is not even N1 billion, N4 billion, N40 billion, N900 billion, N1 trillion or N2 trillion,” he said.
“One person, as a former governor of .., returned to the federation account and such person belongs to a church.”
He asked if such an amount of money was shared to Nigerians, “do you know how much everyone will get?”
The user said the money was “discovered” and that the stated amount excludes “the one in foreign account”.
CableCheck found that the video was posted on June 29 by a Facebook user, Gio TV.
The post has garnered over 9,000 views, 112 likes, and 29 comments, with commentators expressing mixed feelings about the authenticity of the information.
BACKGROUND
Emefiele is facing multiple charges, including allegations of using his privileged position to unlawfully acquire properties and control significant sums of money suspected to be proceeds of illegal activities.
On November 1, 2024, Deinde Dipeolu, judge of a federal high court in Lagos, ordered the permanent forfeiture of monies (including $2.045 million), seven choice landed properties, and the two share certificates of Queensdorf Global Fund Limited Trust belonging to Emefiele, to the federal government.
The assets were said to be reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
The forfeited properties included two fully detached duplexes of identical structures situated at No. 17b Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos; an undeveloped land, measuring 1919.592 sqm with Survey Plan No. DS/LS/340 at Oyinkan Abayomi Drive (formerly Queens Drive), Ikoyi, Lagos; a bungalow at No. 65a Oyinkan Abayomi Drive (formerly Queens Drive), Ikoyi, Lagos, and a four-bedroom duplex at 12a Probyn Road, Ikoyi.
Others are an industrial complex under construction on 22 plots of land in Agbor, Delta state; eight units of an undetached apartment on a plot measuring 2457.60sqm at No. 8a Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi, and a duplex together with all its appurtenances on a plot of land measuring 2217.87sqm at 2a Bank Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
However, the court of appeal in Lagos overturned the final forfeiture order issued on assets owned by Emefiele.
VERIFICATION
CableCheck analysed key frames of the video using reverse image search tools.
The results revealed that the footage has been online since 2023.
The claim was made in November 2023, when an X user, @Gen_Buhar, made a post about the purported return of N4 trillion by Emefiele.
The claim resurfaced in January 2024, May 2024, and June 2024.
CableCheck also reviewed reports by reputable media platforms covering the court proceedings and found that the claim was not reported.
Additionally, a Google search was conducted to verify the claim. The enquiries showed that the report was not from a credible source but a recycling of unverified claims.
VERDICT
The claim that Emefiele returned N4 trillion to the federal government is false.
