EFCC Opens Case Against Emefiele For Alleged Procurement Fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) opened its case in the trial of suspended Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, on a procurement fraud charge at an FCT High Court in Abuja on Monday.

Naija News recalls the government through the EFCC increased the charges against Emefiele from six to twenty.

The charges against Emefiele now border on Criminal breach of trust, Forgery, Conspiracy to commit forgery, Procurement Fraud and Conspiracy to commit Felony.

The EFCC filed amended charges, resulting in a re-arraignment, during which Emefiele pleaded not guilty.

The first witness (PW 1), a Deputy Director in CBN branch operations, Onyeka Ogbu, testified that $6.2 million was reserved for international election observers while being led in evidence by the EFCC lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN.

Ogbu said, “On Jan.8, 2023, a request for payment of 6.2 million dollars was brought to my attention by the Banking services department.

”Ours is to make payment, we don’t have the power to approve.

”Having gone through the documents and satisfied, I minuted it and sent it for processing and disbursement, which was complied to.”

He requested that the matter be stood down to allow him to obtain additional documents.

However, the former CBN governor’s lawyer, Matthew Burkaa, SAN, rejected the prosecution’s request, suggesting that an adjournment would be more appropriate for the prosecution to acquire all the Certified True Copies and for the witness to undergo cross-examination.

Justice Hamza Muazu adjourned the trial to Tuesday for its continuation after hearing their submissions.