Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has indicted the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, on 26 new charges, including $2 billion worth of foreign exchange fraud, local media reported.
The charges against Emefiele, according to the anti-graft agency, include receiving gratification, accepting gifts through agents, corruption, receiving property obtained fraudulently and giving corrupt benefits to his associates.
"You, Godwin Emefiele directed to be done in abuse of the authority of your office, as the governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, an arbitrary act, to wit: allocating foreign exchange in the aggregate sum of $2,136,391,737.33 without bids, which act is prejudicial to the rights of Nigerians," the charge reads.
The commission added that the former central bank governor allegedly committed the offenses between 2022 and 2023.
Emefiele would be arraigned before the Lagos High Court on Monday, the report added.
Nigerian security services first detained Emefiele last June as part of an investigation into his office. The development followed Nigerian President Bola Tinubu's decision to suspend the central bank governor amid planned financial sector reforms and his call for a "thorough house-cleaning" of the central bank.
A Lagos court later ordered Emefiele's release on bail in July, but security agencies re-arrested the former governor.
The initial charge filed against Emefiele by the government in August consisted of 20 counts amounting to 6.5 billion naira (over $7.7 million).
Emefiele took over as governor of the Central Bank in June 2014. In May 2019, he was reappointed for a second term, which was due to end in June 2024. He was replaced in September by new Central Bank Governor Olayemi Cardoso.