A prosecution witness at the FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja, recounted on Wednesday how he handled the disbursement of more than N1.6 billion as instructed by Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The third prosecution witness, Richard Agulu, who works for the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), clarified that the funds he handled were not kept in Mr. Emefiele's individual account at Zenith Bank but were stored in the bank's vault or in specific accounts operated by the bank.
Testifying under the guidance of prosecution attorney Rotimi Oyedepo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Agulu, a previous employee of Zenith Bank, explained that the funds were distributed following instructions from the former CBN governor via his assistant, Eric Ocheme.
According to Mr. Agulu's testimony, Emefiele ordered him to accept cash from Ocheme and to allocate these funds as required during the course of their operations.
He detailed several significant transactions that took place between 2020 to 2022 under Mr. Ocheme’s directive, including large cash deposits into the account of Ifeabigo Integrated Services, which he identified as belonging to his acquaintance, Peters Adebayo, who is involved in construction and trading in Abuja.
The amounts mentioned by the witness include N75 million deposited in February 2021, N134.5 million in March 2021, N123 million in April 2021, N32 million in May, N132 million in June of the same year, and subsequent large deposits in July of N100 million, N70 million, and a transfer of N99 million later that month.
Additionally, he recounted multiple transactions in August 2021 that included a total of N600 million and N300 million transferred from Ifeabigo Integrated Services to MG Properties Limited, along with N700 million transferred from Kelvito Integrated Services to the same company on the same day, although the witness did not clarify the connection between these transactions and the overall case.
"I completed a total of N1.6 billion worth of transfers to MG Properties Limited, directed by the defendant through Mr. Eric," he testified.
The witness went on to specify further transactions, which encompassed N225 million transferred on August 25, 2021, and three additional deposits totaling N160 million on August 30, 2021. He also revealed that on a particular September day, N300 million was credited to the account from Ace Frozen Foods Ventures, while N225 million was withdrawn in cash on the same day, collected by Ocheme. These financial activities persisted from October 2021 through January 2022.
Mr. Agulu pointed out that the descriptions of some deposits included “CD/Peter Adebayo,” reflecting the account signatory's name, though he professed to be unaware of the purpose behind the funds.
“I was questioned by the EFCC regarding these transfers and confirmed that I was instructed to conduct them to MG Properties at Eric’s behest on behalf of the defendant. However, I do not know the objective behind these transactions,” he stated.
During cross-examination, he acknowledged that the transactions he described could be sanctioned by the owners and authorized signatories of the accounts involved.
Earlier in the trial, the EFCC put forth documentation regarding Ace Frozen Foods Ventures' account managed by Kamaru Lasisi and Raphael Ibhafidon Uguomore. Strikingly, Mr. Emefiele's name was conspicuously absent from these documents presented by compliance officer Olomotam Egoro from Access Bank.
Thus, the trial judge, Yusuf Halilu, postponed proceedings until February 16. This case is just one of multiple legal challenges Mr. Emefiele is confronting following his dismissal from office in 2023, as he currently faces trials in Abuja and Lagos.
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