By Isaac Akerele
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) opened its fraud case against suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele on Monday. The case is being heard at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja.
Emefiele has been charged with 20 counts of conspiracy, illegally conferring advantage, breach of trust, and other offenses. He denied all charges when first arraigned on Friday.
He was previously charged with 6 counts of fraud in November 2023. The charges were then amended by the EFCC leading to his re-arraignment on the new 20 charges. Emefiele again pleaded not guilty.
The first witness for the EFCC, Mr. Onyeka Ogbu, a CBN deputy director, while being questioned by the EFCC lawyer Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, discussed a $6.2 million payment in Which he claims the Banking Services Department brought the payment to his attention on January 8, 2023. The payment was supposedly for international election observers.
Mr. Ogbu explained that his role was only to process payments, not approve them. After reviewing the documents and being satisfied, he passed on the payment request which was then paid out as requested.
He then requested for the case to be temporarily adjourned so he could retrieve more documents. However, Emefiele’s lawyer Matthew Burkaa rejected this request. Instead, Justice Hamza Muazu agreed to adjourn the full case until Tuesday to allow the prosecution time to gather documents and for the witness to be cross-examined.
Among other charges, the EFCC has accused Emefiele of forging a document claiming international election observers required $6.2 million. This letter, according to it was supposedly from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation but was fake.
Emefiele has also been accused of cronyism, awarding juicy contracts to a company where he has significant ownership stake and control.
The charges involve conspiracy, illegally conferring advantage, breach of trust, forgery, and violating public procurement laws.
Emefiele was first charged by the EFCC alongside Mrs Sa’adatu Yaro and a company, April 1616 Investment in August 2023, regarding a breach of the procurement Act in the purchase of vehicles.
The charges against him have now widened substantially to 20 counts of fraud.
