Emefiele Didn’t Benefit From $6.2m Looted In CBN – EFCC Witness Tells Court

An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness.CP Okpoziakpo Eloho on Thursday told an Abuja High Court that the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, did not benefit from the 6.2 million dollars fraud.

Eloho, who is the 14th Prosecution Witness (PW 14) said this during cross examination by Mr Mathew Burka, SAN, counsel for Emefiele.
The EFCC charged Emefiele with criminal breach of trust, forgery, abuse of office, conspiracy to obtain by false pretence and obtaining money by false pretence while serving as CBN governor.

Specially, the EFCC accused Emefiele of conferring corrupt advantages on two companies—April 1616 Nigeria Ltd and Architekon Nigeria Ltd.
He however, pleaded not guilty to the charge. At the resumed sitting , Eloho, who led the police investigation of the former CBN boss, stated that Emefiele in the statement he made, denied ever giving approval and authorization for the release of the money to anybody.

He also said that the defendant also denied ever receiving any letter from the then Secretary of the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha or acted on any such letter. Answering a question, CP Eloho admitted that one Jibril Abubakar appeared before his probe panel during investigation and admitted collecting the 6.2 million dollars from the Abuja branch of the CBN. He also said that none of those interviewed or investigated in respect of the money told the investigators that the defendant benefitted in one way or the other.

The CP said that although Abubakar claimed to be a staff in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), investigation later revealed that he was never an employee in the SGF office. The witness further stated that in spite of the confession of Abubakar that he collected the money from the apex bank, he (witness) is aware if Abubakar was tried in any law court.

Answering further question, the witness claimed that one Bashirudeen Maishanu, a staff of the CBN, was also interrogated and he confessed to stealing the money. When shown series of exhibits especially correspondences exchanged during the processing, approval and release of the funds, the witness admitted that protocol was breached.

He said going by the hierarchy of the management of the apex bank, that under normal circumstances correspondence from CBN governor ought to go to the deputy governor and from there downwards. “I recall that on Dec. 13, 2023, we were at Kuje correctional centre where the defendant made his statement in relation to his office on the said the money .