Judiciary Judiciary

Emefiele paid money into niece’s account, says ex-CBN secretary

by admin on | 2024-10-31 12:39:13

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A former Secretary of the Central Bank of Nigeria, John Ogah, on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, told the Special Offences Court sitting in the Ikeja area of Lagos State how the immediate past CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, directed payment of money into his niece’s bank account.

Emefiele is standing trial for abuse of office and $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion fraud while in office as the CBN Governor.

He is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Emefiele’s co-defendant, Henry Omoile, is standing trial on three counts bordering on unlawful acceptance of gifts by agents.

Ogah, the sixth prosecution witness, was led in evidence by EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN).

He disclosed that one Hannah Emefiele is the former CBN Governor’s niece.

He told the court that he (Ogah) instructed an account officer to pay money into Hannah’s bank account on the instruction of Emefiele.

The witness said all emails sent to the bank account officer and instructions given were as directed by Emefiele.

Ogah said: “I have the instructions of my boss to send the emails to the account officer, and all the instructions he gave were carried out.

“Hannah is one the beneficiaries of the fund because my boss gave instructions through emails which I forwarded to the account officer.”

Emefiele’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), however, queried the relevance of mentioning Hannah’s name.

Ojo argued that Hannah’s name was not mentioned anywhere in the charge.

He also claimed that the EFCC included the name in the course of giving evidence.

In response, EFCC’s lawyer argued that although Hannah was not mentioned in the charge, she was alleged to have benefitted from the proceeds of the alleged fraud.

During cross-examination by Emefiele’s counsel, the witness told the court that he was keeping records while working as the former CBN Governor’s secretary.

He said the records were for reference purposes.

Ojo asked the witness if he showed the records to the EFCC. The witness said he did not show any document to the EFCC.

Ogah added that 99 per cent of instructions he received from Emefiele were not written.