Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has refuted the claims made against him in the recently published Special Investigator report on the CBN and Related Entities regarding embezzled monies. In a statement released on Sunday under the title “Re: Emefiele, others stole billions, illegally kept Nigeria’s funds in foreign banks,” he outlined his position. Remember how Jim Obaze, the Special Investigator on the CBN and Related Entities, disclosed last week that the former governor of the CBN had deposited £543, 482,213 in fixed deposits in UK banks alone without permission? According to a portion of Obaze’s report, “Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, invested Nigerian funds in 593 foreign bank accounts in the United States, China, and the United Kingdom during his tenure without authorization.” “Every account where billions were deposited has been tracked down by the investigator.” Emefiele responded in a statement on Sunday, saying, “My attention was drawn to publications released by some mainstream and online news platforms after my release on bail from the correctional center, Kuje.” The President appointed Mr. Jim Obazee as a private investigator, and his report was one of the sources of the material released by both media outlets. “I have gone through the publications, and I say boldly that the contents of the said publications are false, misleading and calculated to disparage my person, injure my character and serve the selfish interest of the private investigator.” He claims that approximately two weeks prior, Obazee traveled to Kuje with a specific Deputy Commissioner of Police from Force CID to question him about the aforementioned paper in front of his attorneys. The former CBN governor stated, “The final issue that I would like to respond to is the issue of the 593 accounts which were purportedly opened in different parts of the world. “I firmly declare that neither the opening of these accounts nor my knowledge of their openings involves me. “It is undoubtedly not within my knowledge that those international accounts have fixed deposits. Let me make it very clear, though: the appropriate CBN departments are authorized to conduct these kinds of operations in accordance with their legitimate CBN mandates. “I thus concur with well-meaning Nigerians who have voiced their opinions and called for an exhaustive and open investigation of all these claimed frauds.” “I have directed my attorneys to start the legal process right away to clear my name from the defamatory remarks contained in the report and by extension the publications,” he continued.