A Deputy Director overseeing Branch Operations at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Onyeka Ogbu, revealed in a Federal Capital Territory High Court on Monday that he was aware of a $6.2 million payment request for international election observers. The disclosure was made during the trial of the former governor of the bank, Godwin Emefiele, who is facing 20 charges, including criminal conspiracy, conferring undue advantage, and breach of trust, brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Emefiele is accused of impersonating the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to illegally obtain $6.2 million. The EFCC alleges that he forged a document titled “Re: Presidential directive on foreign election observer missions” in January 2023.
Ogbu, serving as the prosecution witness, informed the court that the payment request was made on January 8, 2023. He stated that after reviewing the documents, he approved the disbursement, which was then executed.
“On January 8, 2023, a request for payment of $6,230,000 was brought to my attention by the Banking Services department. Having gone through the documents and satisfied, I minuted on it and sent for processing and disbursement which was complied with,” Ogbu explained.
During the proceedings, certain pages of the identified documents were found to be missing. The prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), requested a temporary halt to address the issue of the missing pages. However, the defendant’s counsel, Matthew Burkaa (SAN), objected, stating that the prosecution is obligated to present the evidence contained in the documents. He suggested that an adjournment would be better to allow the prosecution to obtain all the certified true copies and for the witness to undergo cross-examination.
Justice Hamza Muazu subsequently adjourned the trial to the following day for the continuation of proceedings.
