The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday told the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, that former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele’s co-defendant, Henry Omoile, voluntarily wrote his statements on the subject of their ongoing $4.5 billion fraud trial.
Mr Emefiele and Mr Omoile are jointly facing 22 counts in total. While 19 of the counts, which centre on gratification and corrupt demands, are directed at Mr Emefiele, the remaining three counts of allegedly receiving unlawful gifts, are for Mr Omoile.
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Both of them have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The case, first brought by the EFCC in April 2024, has seen the admission of digital communications and WhatsApp messages allegedly showing attempts to deliver funds on behalf of Mr Emefiele.
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At the previous hearing on 9 October, prosecution lawyer Rotimi Oyedepo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), sought to tender Mr Omoile’s extra-judicial statement, considered crucial to the prosecution’s case, as an exhibit.
But defence lawyer Kotoye Adeyinka, who is also a SAN, objected to the admission of the written statement.
Mr Omoile, through his defence lawyer, denied the statement, saying it was obtained from him custody by coercion.
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This prompted the judge to order trial-within-trial to verify his claim of involuntariness of the statement credited to Mr Omoile.
Testifying in the trial-within-trial on Tuesday, EFCC operative Alvan Gurumnaan said no officer coerced Mr Omoile to give the statements.
“The second defendant did not make any statement under duress. Our officers do not force statements through violence or intimidation,” he told the court, adding that the burden lies on the defendant to prove coercion.
Mr Gurumnaan, formerly of the EFCC’s Special Operations Unit in Lagos, said the statements were made at the commission’s conference room in Block A, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, a large open space routinely used by the Special Operations Team.
He said it was surprising that Mr Omoile later claimed duress, noting that the defendant arrived at the EFCC office on 26 February 2024, accompanied by the Acting Managing Director of Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and his lawyer, E. N. Offiong.
“The statements were taken openly. There is no way we could have done that under threat,” he said.
The four statements in issue are three dated 26 February 2024 and one dated 27 February 2024.
Mr Gurumnaan confirmed that Mr Omoile was in custody when he made them and was duly cautioned by another EFCC operative, Azeez Ajigbotosho.
The statements were signed by Mr Omoile, who wrote: “I am making this statement in the presence of my lawyer, Offiong.”
READ ALSO: Court defers testimonies of three EFCC’s witnesses in Emefiele’s trial indefinitely
Although one statement did not explicitly mention the lawyer, the witness maintained that Mr Offiong was present on both days and tendered the EFCC visitors’ register as proof.
Under cross-examination by another defence lawyer Olalekan Ojo also a SAN and Mr Adeyinka, the witness admitted that investigators did not make a video recording of the recording of the disputed statements, despite it being EFCC standard practice.
He explained that operational constraints sometimes prevent recordings.
Mr Oshodi adjourned the trial-within-trial to 15 and 16 January 2026.
Mr Emefiele, who President Bola Tinubu removed as the CBN governor in June 2023, is also facing other corruption charges in Abuja stemming from his activities while in office.
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