Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on October 9,2025, admitted more evidence against a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, in an alleged $4.5bn fraud.
Emefiele is standing trial on a 19-count charge bordering on receiving gratification and corrupt demand preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
His co-defendant, Henry Omoile, is facing a three-count charge bordering on unlawful acceptance of gifts by agents.
They have pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.
At the sitting on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, the prosecution sought to tender a bundle of documents extracted from a phone belonging to John Adetola, a former Executive Assistant to Emefiele.
However, the defence counsel, led by Olalekan Ojo SAN and Kazeem Gbadamosi SAN, objected to their admissibility, citing concerns over authenticity and proper certification as required under the Evidence Act.
The Judge, consequently, adjourned the case till October 9, 2025 for ruling on the admissibility of the documents presented by the prosecution.
At the sitting on Thursday, Justice Oshodi overruled the objections and ruled that the documents were admissible, saying ,”The court overrules the objection of the defence counsel and admits the documents as Exhibit G.”
Also, the prosecution witness, Alvan Gurumnaan , in his further testimony, read out a WhatsApp conversation between Henry Omoile and Adetola in Exhibit G, where the former instructed the latter to deliver $400,000 to “Oga”.
Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo SAN, Gurumnaan also told the court that during interrogation, Adetola confirmed the cash was meant for delivery to a CBN official named Ayo, who served as the personal assistant to the first defendant, Emefiele.
“John Adetola confirmed that he went to Lekki, Lagos, where he met Ayo and delivered the $400,000.
“He later proceeded to the CBN office in Lagos, where he handed the money over to Mr. Emefiele,” Gurumnaan said.
The witness added that this was not the only transaction.
According to him, “ There was another $200,000 that Adetola delivered through the same channel. This time, Ayo personally handed the money over to Emefiele in his office.
“ Victor Oyedua, a CBN contractor, confirmed giving the sums of $400,000 and $200,000 to Ayo for onward delivery to Emefiele.
“Oyedua said he had two pending contracts with the CBN and had not been paid. He was told he needed to ‘settle management’ to facilitate the release of funds, which prompted the cash deliveries,” he said.
The prosecution, thereafter, tendered additional more documents obtained from the CBN and a company’s letter dated February 24, 2024.
The letter, he stated, was an original public document received during EFCC’s investigation.
Though the defence objected to its admissibility, the court admitted the documents as Exhibit H.
The prosecution also tendered a Mi 10T phone as evidence belonging to Adetola, which was still powered and in a flight mode at the time of seizure.
The device was admitted as Exhibit I.
Also, the prosecution counsel, Oyedepo, tendered some statements made by the defendant during investigation, and urged the court to admit them as evidence.
However, the defence counsel, objected to their admissibility on the grounds that “ the statements were made under duress.”
Justice Oshodi , consequently, ordered a trial -within -trial in respect of this statement, and ruled that parties should come on November 21, 2025 for a report of the parties on the agreement on forensic inspection.
The case was adjourned till December 2 and 3, 2025.
