On Wednesday, Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja adjourned the ongoing trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele, who is facing allegations of abuse of office to November 28.
Justice Oshodi adjourned the matter after the sixth Prosecution Witness, John Ogah, concluded his testimony.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Emefiele and one Herry Omoile before the court on a 26-count charge of accepting gratification, accepting gifts through agents, corruption, and fraudulent property receipt.
In the charge filed on April 3rd by the anti-graft agency’s prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), he was accused of conferring corrupt advantage on his associates contrary to the Corrupt Practices Act of 2000.
During his testimony on Wednesday, Ogah tendered several email messages he sent to the account officers of three companies, Comec, Limelight, and Amswin Resources Limited in Zenith Bank, to transfer an amount to specific beneficiaries.
The witness, who said he worked as Emefiele’s secretary at Zenith Bank and the CBN, claimed that all the emails he sent to the account officer and instructions given were as directed by his boss, Emefiele.
He said, “I was instructed by my boss (Emefiele) to send the emails to the account officer, and all the instructions he gave were carried out.
Ogah also stated that the former CBN boss had once instructed Zenith Bank’s account officer, Mrs Ifeoma Ogbonnaya, to transfer funds into his niece, Hannah Emefiele’s account.
He said, “In one of the emails, he instructed Ogbonaya to pay into the account of Hannah Emefiele while I was still working with him.”
Emefiele’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), objected to the claim, questioning the relevance of the name mentioned by the witness. He argued that Hannah’s name was not included in the charges.
The EFCC counsel, Oyedepo, responded that although the niece’s name was not in the charge, she was alleged to have benefited from the proceeds.
“The name came up because some of the proceeds that went into this account are traceable to relatives of the first defendant,” he explained.
The judge, after listening to the lawyers, dismissed the objection.
Ogah also informed the court that Ogbonnaya was the account officer for Limelight, Comec, and Answin Resources Ltd., which Emefiele allegedly owns.
He further discussed messages provided to him by Emefiele, instructing him to communicate various directives to Ogbonnaya concerning the three companies supposedly owned by the former governor.
Under cross-examination by Ojo, the witness told the court that he kept records while working as secretary to the former CBN governor and that the records were for reference purposes.
He was asked whether he had shown the records he had kept with the EFCC while in custody. He said he did not show any document to the EFCC, showing instructions from Emefiele.
The witness also confirmed that, based on the information he gave to the EFCC, there needed to be written communication between him and Emefiele, stating that 99 per cent of the instructions he received from Emefiele were not in writing.
