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The former governor
of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Chukwuma Soludo, is under the
radar of British crime investigators who want to understand his role in
the N29 billion polymer banknote contract issued during his tenure.

Between 2006 and
2009, the Central Bank carried out currency reforms that saw the
introduction of polymer bank notes to replace the paper notes of the
country’s lower denominations. In late 2009, media reports alleged that
top CBN officials had received bribes in order to grant an Australian
company, Securency International Pty Ltd, the contract which saw the
Australian company supplying Nigeria with at least 1.9 billion pieces
of the polymer substrate.

The contract is now
the subject of a multi-national investigation straddling Vietnam,
Malaysia, Australia, the UK and Nigeria, from which about N3.5 billion
was paid out in slush fund. Investigators believe that millions out of
the amount were paid to top Nigerian politicians and bank officials.

Investigating the Scandal

International
sources who spoke to NEXT in confidence, said that feelers from the
on-going investigations by the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) point
to the fact that Mr. Soludo has become a subject of their
investigations. NEXT had earlier reported that the former bank chief
directed contract processes in the CBN as well as the Nigerian Security
Printing and Minting PLC, of which the CBN has a 77% shareholding.

“SFO is
investigating the Nigerian deal in the UK. Soludo may be tied to a lot
of those Nigerian deals which explains why the SFO may be investigating
him,” our source said.

The SFO’s spokesperson in an email exchange with NEXT however declined to confirm or refute the claims.

“Without wishing to
be unhelpful, I am unable to provide any further details. The
investigation is ongoing. For guidance; it is not SFO policy to confirm
or deny the names of suspects in its investigations,” Katie Winstanley
of the SFO said. Ms. Winstanley further said that the SFO has arrested
at least five people so far in connection with the on-going
investigation.

A source within the
EFCC, who asked not to be named, however confirmed that the SFO had
indeed contacted the Nigerian anti-graft agency in relation to the
investigations involving Mr. Soludo.

“There may be
something like that. I know that there has been intelligence exchange
between the EFCC and the SFO concerning this matter. It is an on-going
investigation which was not initiated by the EFCC,” our source said.

In the months
following the media reports, several anti-corruption agencies within
and outside Nigeria have launched investigations into the scandal. In
Nigeria, the initial enthusiasm showed by the Nigerian Police, the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the National
Assembly has since waned. None of the Nigerian investigations have
yielded any results.

Efforts to get obtain reactions from the official spokesmen for the EFCC and the CBN were unfruitful.

Sharing the contract commissions

Documents obtained
by NEXT show that Securency, whose parent company is the Reserve Bank
of Australia, paid about $23 million dollars in suspect commissions to
a company domiciled in a tax haven, Seychelles. The company, SPT
Limited, further commissioned two other agents to secure the Nigerian
contracts.

The Australian
media, championed by The Age, is claiming that the agents chosen had
close links with top government and CBN officials. One of the agents,
Joseph Raad, who was appointed as a ‘confidential sub-agent’ by SPT
LTD, is Iceland’s honorary Consul General to Nigeria. SPT, which stood
to gain 12% of all contract deals secured from Nigeria, pledged to pay
its agents between 4.5-5% of the contracts worth.