$6.23m fraud: FG hunts for 3 suspects who forged Buhari’s signature 

The Presidency has requested the Interpol to hunt for three suspects who allegedly forged the signature of ex-president Muhammadu Buhari to steal 6.23 million U.S Dollars from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The suspects were named as Odoh Eric Ocheme, a staff of the CBN, Adamu Abubakar and Imam Abubakar.

The request was made by the Office of the Special Investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu to investigate the CBN, related entities and other key government business titles.

The Federal Government had been granted an application of warrant filed by a Federal High Court in Abuja for the arrest of the three persons.

The three persons are to be arrested and arraigned before the court on or before May 7, 2024.
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.

Boss Mustapha, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), on Tuesday testified at an Abuja High Court in the trial of ex-CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, that former President Muhammadu Buhari’s signature was forged to withdraw the said 6.23 million US dollars from the CBN.

Mustapha also told the court that said he knew nothing about the withdrawal of the money, purportedly to pay foreign observers during the 2023 general elections.

He explained before the court that it was the responsibility of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deal with issues of election observers.

It could be recalled that an official of the CBN had on Monday told the court that the amount was given out in cash to an official from the office of the SGF following the presentation of approval documents bearing the signatures of Buhari and Emefiele.