A former Zenith Bank official told the FCT High Court in Abuja on Monday that he did not directly receive money from Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The third prosecution witness, Richard Agulu, now a staff member of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), said, “From the evidence I provided, I said I received the funds through his personal assistant (Eric Ocheme).”
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“I have not seen the first defendant giving money to Mr Ocheme, but he gives instructions through his phone to carry out transactions,” Mr Agulu said during cross-examination by Mr Emefiele’s lawyer, Matthew Bukar, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
In January, Mr Agulu testified that he disbursed over N1.6 billion on the instruction of Mr Emefiele. He also stated that the money he received and disbursed was not domiciled in Mr Emeifele’s personal account in Zenith Bank, but was kept in the bank’s vault or in certain accounts.
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) accused Mr Emefiele of keeping billions of naira in proxy accounts and unlawfully acquiring an estate with 753 housing units while he was serving as the CBN governor. The commission already secured an order of final forfeiture of the estate in a separate case.
According to the EFCC, Mr Emefiele connived with one Eric Ocheme (Mr Emefiele’s aide), said to be at large, to obtain the properties in August 2021.
The prosecution alleged that the former CBN governor, between January and December 2019 in Abuja, kept N167 million in a proxy account with Zenith Bank.
It also claimed Mr Emefiele and Mr Ocheme kept over N4 billion in Kelvito Integrated Services’ account.
They also allegedly deposited N1.98 billion in the same company’s account in Zenith Bank, between January and December 2022,
EFCC similarly accused Mr Emefiele of keeping over N1.5 billion in Ifeadigo Integrated Services’ account in Zenith Bank, where the ex-CBN governor previously served as Managing Director.
All the funds were obtained unlawfully, the EFCC said.
‘No direct contact with Emefiele’
During Monday’s proceedings, the witness told the court that he did not have Mr Emefiele’s phone number, nor did he ever speak with him directly.
However, he clarified that it was either Mr Emefiele called Mr Ocheme or “either way” and handed over the phone to him.
All his actions were based on Mr Emefiele’s voice on the phone, Mr Agulu said.
The witness said that all the transactions he allegedly carried out on behalf of Mr Emefiele were while he was no longer the Managing Director of Zenith Bank. Mr Emefiele served as the managing director and chief executive officer of Zenith Bank from August 201 until his appointment as the CBN governor in June 2014. He served as the CBN governor until he was removed from office by President Bola Tinubu in 2023.
The defence asked Mr Agulu if he clearly stated that he received instructions via phone in the statement he made to the EFCC. Responding, the witness said, “What I can remember in my statement is that I got my instructions from the defendant through Mr Ocheme. I cannot remember whether it was through the phone or not.”
Thereafter, Mr Bukar tendered Mr Agulu’s extrajudicial statement to the EFCC to “refresh his memory.”
However, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Rotimi Oyedepo objected, stating that the extrajudicial statement is only admissible if there is a contradiction and the application to refresh memory must come from a witness.
He asked the judge not to reject the document but to delay its admission.
Mr Bukar, reacting, said, “The prosecution cannot be arguing against its own documents since it was filed among the proof of evidence.”
Following extensive arguments by the lawyers concerning the admissibility of the document, the DPP withdrew the objection.
The judge admitted the extrajudicial statement and marked it as Exhibit G.
Thereafter, Mr Bukar asked the witness to peruse the document and read out the portion where he wrote about speaking to the defendant by phone.
The witness replied, “I can not see anywhere I said phone, but I said it by his instructions.”
After his reply, the judge adjourned the case until 22 April for continuation of cross-examination.
Owners of companies authenticate transactions
Earlier during the proceedings, the witness said Chukwuma Okpala who owned Kelvito Integrated Services, and Peter Adebayo who owned Ifeadigo Integrated Services, authenticated the transactions he referred to in his earlier testimony in January.
“It was with their instructions that the transaction was effected by the bank,” he said, adding that the instructions were carried out by banking instruments, cheques. “The defendant gives instructions to me through his personal assistant (Mr Ocheme).”
Under cross-examination by Mr Emefiele’s lawyer, Mr Bukar, the witness stated that the instructions through Mr Ocheme were the banking instrument he worked on to carry out the transactions.
He also said that the instructions were not given through letter, email or text message but through phone calls.
He noted that from the CBN’s guidelines and operational manual policies of Zenith Bank, a staff member was only permitted to honour the instructions of an account holder either by formal communication, cheques, or the customer being present at the bank.
However, neither the former CBN governor nor Mr Ocheme were the account holder. But the witness said that because they were not the account holders, that was why he included the owners’ names in the deposit slip anytime he deposited cash into their accounts.
He also disclosed his personal relationship with Mr Adebayo. “We were friends,” the witness said.
READ ALSO: 753 Housing Units Fraud Trial: Bank official details disbursements of N1.6bn on Emefiele’s instructions
Mr Bukar tendered in the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) status report of Rites Impex Project Limited, but Mr Oyedepo objected to its admissibility on two grounds.
He said there was no compliance with Section 85 of the Evidence Act, and it is not a certified true copy. He added that there was no aspect with regard to payment.
Mr Bukar withdrew the document but noted that Remita would be attached to the document and subsequently tendered.
He also tendered the summaries of operational policies of Zenith Bank.
Again, Mr Oyedepo objected that he was not served with a copy of the document. Also, the document could not be tendered in through the witness, since he was no longer a staff member of Zenith Bank, Mr Oyedepo argued.
The trial judge, Yusuf Halilu, urged the lawyers to “re-echo their arguments in their final written address.” He admitted the documents but adjourned the ruling.
The witness admitted that he deposited the money and wrote the names of Messrs Okpala and Adebayo as depositors. When asked if he considered this as wrongful, Mr Oyedepo objected, stating that the witness was not standing trial.
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