By Deborah Onyofufeke, Abuja
At the resumed hearing yesterday of the trial of the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, the lead witness, Mr Onyeka Ogbu said the sum of $6.23m was approved for international election observers on the instructions of Emefiele.
Ogbu a deputy director in charge of Branch Operations in the CBN informed the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja what he knew about this as he was the one who processed the release of the funds.
A document was presented before the court to back what Ogbu said, which was presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) lawyer, Mr Rotimi Oyedeopo.
The witness identified and testified to the documents, adding that the request was made on January 8, 2023.
He said, “On January 8, 2023, a request for payment of $6, 230, 000 was brought to my attention by the Banking Services department. Ours is to make payment, we don’t have the power to approve.
“Having gone through the documents and satisfied, I minuted on it and sent for processing and disbursement which was complied with.”
All documents were identified, but certain pages were absent.
The prosecution counsel, Oyedepo requested the court a temporary halt from the court to address the issue of missing pages.
The defendant’s counsel, Matthew Burkaa (SAN), however, objected, adding that the prosecution is bound by the evidence presented in the documents.
He said adjournment is better to allow the prosecution to get all the certified true copies and also for the witness to be cross-examined.
After listening to their submissions, Justice Hamza Muazu adjourned till Tuesday for the continuation of the trial.
The former apex bank chief is standing trial on an amended 20 charges bordering on criminal conspiracy, conferring undue advantage, and breach of trust among others preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
He was accused of impersonating the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to illegally obtain a sum of $6.2m.
The anti-graft agency alleged that Emefiele, in January 2023, forged a document titled: “Re: Presidential directive on foreign election observer missions” dated January 26, 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201.
