In a major move in his ongoing procurement fraud trial, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has asked the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja to block the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from introducing additional witnesses.
Emefiele’s lawyer, Matthew Burkaa (SAN), argued that the EFCC should not be allowed to bring in more witnesses since only 10 were initially listed in the proof of evidence they presented to the court. He said that this number should be final.
However, the EFCC’s prosecuting lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), disagreed. Oyedepo argued that calling more witnesses was necessary for a fair trial and that denying the EFCC this right would violate its access to a fair hearing.
After hearing both sides’ arguments, Justice Hamza Muazu postponed the case until March 20 for a ruling.
Emefiele faces 20 serious charges, including criminal breach of trust, forgery, and conspiracy. The accusations claim that, while serving as CBN Governor, he used his position to grant corrupt advantages to two companies: April 1616 Nigeria Ltd and Architekon Nigeria Ltd.
On the same day, the EFCC’s 10th witness, Salawu Gana, gave his testimony. Gana said that the contract given to April 1616 for procuring vehicles for CBN followed the proper legal procedures. He explained that the CBN’s Procurement Department had thoroughly checked the bidders’ offers before awarding the contract to April 1616, as it submitted the lowest bid. He also confirmed that the vehicles were delivered as per the CBN Tenders Board’s recommendations.
During questioning by Emefiele’s lawyer, Gana clarified that Emefiele was not involved in the CBN Tenders Board’s decision-making process. He added that there was no evidence showing that Emefiele had any link to payments from April 1616’s bank account, and that Emefiele did not influence the procurement process through phone calls or messages. According to Gana, Emefiele did not even supervise the procurement officers but reported to his supervisor.
The EFCC also presented several documents showing that April 1616 had been awarded multiple vehicle supply contracts because it had submitted the lowest bids.
