Anti-Corruption Commission Mounting Pressure On My Client To Indict Emefiele – Lawyer

The lawyer for the second defendant, Henry Omoile, in the ongoing trial of former Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele, on Thursday, accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of attempting to pressure his client into implicating the former apex bank boss.

The lawyer, E.N. Offial, who was testifying in the trial-within-trial ordered by Justice Rahman Oshodi to determine the voluntariness of Omoile’s statement to the EFCC, claimed that the investigators made various promises to him in exchange for his indictment of Emefiele.

The former CBN boss was arraigned before the court alongside Omoile on allegations of accepting gratification, accepting gifts through agents, corruption, and fraudulent property receipts.

The anti-graft agency also accused the defendant of conferring a corrupt advantage on his associates, in contravention of the Corrupt Practices Act 2000.

They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

At the resumed hearing of the matter on Thursday, the official told the judge that Omoile told him the head of the EFCC team that interrogated him assured him that he would get bail and might not be charged at all if he cooperated by revealing incriminating evidence against the first defendant.

The witness also testified that the Interrogation was conducted in a question-and-answer format, and that his client was required to answer the questions satisfactorily before being allowed to write them on the statement sheet.

He stated, “On several occasions, questions were put to the second defendant, and he answered, but he was not allowed to write them down because the answer did not conform to what the interrogators wanted him to say. I objected to this many times.

“The sessions of 26 February 2024 ended with the investigative officers telling me they would be detaining him because they were not done with him.

“On February 27, 2024, I met the second defendant while being interrogated by the team, and I questioned why the interrogation was being conducted behind me.

“One Davide challenged me, asking what right I had to question the manner in which the questions were being taken from the defendant. Temper Rose and David walked me out of the premises.

“I was taken aback and reported the incident to the head of the team, who told me not to worry and advised me to sit in the waiting area. I was not allowed to provide my services to my client until about 8pm, when he was taken back to the detention centre.

“Later, I was told that he had refused to cooperate with them, and they are not going to release him. It was at that point that I applied for the defendant’s bail to the Zonal head of the EFCC.

“The defendant was detained for 21 days. I later filed a fundamental rights case at the Federal High Court in Lagos, and the judge, Justice Muslims Hamza, granted him bail but ordered that he be remanded in Ikoyi Correctional Centre until he perfects the bail conditions,” the official stated.

However, under cross-examination by the prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, the witness admitted that the defendant was cautioned in his presence and that he signed the caution.

He also admitted participating in the process and that he knew what the second defendant wrote could be used against him in court.

When asked by Oyedepo whether he had complained or filed a petition regarding the investigative team’s alleged conduct, the witness said no.

He also admitted that the judge who heard the fundamental rights enforcement case found the EFCC not guilty of any misconduct and that his client was never harassed in his presence.