The trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, took a dramatic turn on Thursday after a prosecution witness accepted responsibility for the illegal withdrawal of $2.5 million from the apex bank.
Emefiele, who served as CBN governor between 2014 and 2023, is standing trial on a 20-count charge bordering on alleged procurement fraud amounting to about ₦1.2 billion. He is also accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of unlawfully obtaining $6.23 million under the pretext that the funds were meant for international election observers during the 2023 general elections.
At the resumed hearing, the EFCC presented its 11th prosecution witness, Mr. Bashirudeen Maishanu, a Deputy Director in the CBN’s Banking Supervision Department. During cross-examination by defence counsel, Mr. Matthew Burkaa, SAN, Maishanu admitted that the $2.5 million formed part of the $6.23 million at the centre of the charges against Emefiele.
The witness told the court that he had earlier taken responsibility for the transaction before a special investigator, Mr. Jim Obaze, appointed by President Bola Tinubu to probe the CBN’s activities under Emefiele. According to him, he only realised the transaction was fraudulent after Obaze confronted him with documents showing that the signatures of former President Muhammadu Buhari and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, had been forged.
“The disappearance of the $6.23 million rests on me,” Maishanu said. “When I saw the documents, I accepted personal responsibility because I was inadvertently involved, and because Mr. Eric Ocheme, the former governor’s personal assistant who issued the instructions, is nowhere to be found. I did not know it was a fraud at the time.”
He further told the court that he neither met Emefiele nor received any instructions or money from him in relation to the transaction, stressing that all directives came from Ocheme. He added that he only saw Emefiele’s alleged approval after meeting the special investigator.
Maishanu explained that he participated in the withdrawal believing it was a legitimate transaction, noting that the CBN operates strict payment procedures.
Although he admitted becoming suspicious when he and others later received $2.5 million from the funds, he said he failed to formally report the matter to the bank.
The witness also disclosed that while he was not criminally charged over the incident, he was suspended by the CBN and had refunded a substantial part of the money to the federal government.
“I have returned more than what I received because I accepted responsibility for the withdrawal,” he added.
Earlier in his testimony, Maishanu told the court that in January 2023, Emefiele’s personal assistant sent one Ahmed to him regarding a transaction purportedly approved by the President. He said Ahmed later presented documents claiming presidential approval and insisted on a cash payment, after which arrangements were made for the funds to be collected.
According to him, on February 8, 2023, Ahmed and another individual went to the Garki branch of the CBN in Abuja and withdrew the $6.23 million. He said Ahmed later shared $2.5 million among himself and others, an amount he described as “outrageous.
“It was outrageous because no payment was ever discussed. I felt it was a set-up,” the witness told the court.
He explained that from the $2.5 million shared among them, a sum of $1.9 million was paid to a property developer, adding that he subsequently directed the others not to touch the remaining funds.
Justice Hamza Muazu adjourned further hearing in the matter until Friday.
Meanwhile, in the amended charge marked FCT/HC/CR/577/2023, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alleged that the former CBN governor unlawfully awarded contracts for the procurement of 43 vehicles between 2018 and 2020, valued at about ₦1.2 billion.
Emefiele is also accused of conferring corrupt advantage on a CBN staff member, Mrs. Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro, by awarding her private firm, April 1616 Investment Ltd, a contract for the supply of 37 Toyota Hilux vehicles worth ₦854 million.