By Vincent Egunyanga, Ben Adoga and David Lawani, Abuja
The trial of former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, took a dramatic turn on Thursday as a senior police investigator told the Federal Capital Territory High Court that the controversial $6.23 million released by the apex bank for a purported foreign election observer mission was “pure theft” and obtained under false pretences.
Testifying before Justice Hamza Muazu, the 14th prosecution witness, Commissioner of Police Okpoziakpo Eloho of the Force Headquarters Fraud Unit, alleged that investigators found no legitimate basis for the release of the funds, despite an approval purportedly originating from the former CBN governor.
“All the money was released. We saw the approval of the Governor,” the witness told the court.
According to him, investigations showed that the stated purpose of the payment was merely a cover for fraud.
“It was pure theft. It was stolen, otherwise obtained under false pretences,” Eloho declared.
The witness identified Exhibit PD5, described as a presidential directive relating to a foreign election observer mission, but maintained that investigators concluded the document was used to facilitate a fraudulent transaction.
“Our finding about PD5 is that it is all fraud,” he said.
Eloho, however, disclosed that investigators recovered about $800,000 from the disputed funds during their investigation.
During cross-examination by Emefiele’s counsel, Matthew Burkaa (SAN), the witness acknowledged that the former CBN governor exercised control over the bank’s funds by virtue of his office but admitted that the individual who physically collected the money was identified as Jibril Abubakar.
He told the court that investigations revealed Abubakar was neither a staff member of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation nor the owner of the identity card used to receive the cash.
“The staff identity card number does not belong to him. He is not a member of the SGF staff. That is what the investigation revealed,” the witness said.
The police investigator further disclosed that former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, denied authorising the transaction and told investigators that the signature attributed to him on one of the approval documents was not his.
The witness also questioned the procedure used to release the funds, insisting that established protocols within the Central Bank were bypassed.
“Protocol was not followed. The procedure should have been for the document to pass through the Deputy Governor,” he stated.
The Federal Government alleges that the $6.23 million was unlawfully withdrawn from the CBN under the guise of funding an international election observer mission ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Justice Muazu adjourned the further hearing in the matter until Friday, July 3, 2026, to continue the trial.
