The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) spent N3.2 trillion on dubious “other operating expenses” during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year regime, a financial statement released by the apex bank showed.

The financial statement published this week and the first of its kind since 2015, said CBN filed over N3.2 trillion as “other operating expenses” under suspended governor Godwin Emefiele.

The so-called other operating expenses may contain opaque policies, including intervention funds, unsanctioned dealings and other clandestine and illegal expenditures. It is also susceptible to bogus and dubious expense filings.

CBN reported it spent N254 billion on “other operating expenses” in Mr Buhari’s first year in office.

The financial statement revealed that CBN filed N173.6 billion in 2016 — they reported N155 billion in 2017, N190 billion in 2018, and N247 billion in 2019.

The figures jumped to N442.5 billion in 2020. They increased tremendously and doubled the following year as CBN reported N884 billion, while N888 billion was spent on the so-called other operating expenses in 2022, amounting to N3.2 billion for eight years.

Mr Emefiele has been accused of manhandling the nation’s highest bank and splashed N100 million on the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary ticket in the February 25 general election race.

A few weeks into his tenure, President Bola Tinubu suspended Mr Emefiele, citing allegations of corruption regarding his office. He was subsequently arrested and charged to court by the State Security Service (SSS).