Court admits Emefiele’s statements as exhibits in alleged $4.5bn fraud trial

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The Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja, on Thursday, admitted as evidence the extra-judicial statements made by former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele in his trial for alleged abuse of office.

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Justice Rahman Oshodi admitted the statements as exhibits, allowing the substantive trial to proceed.

Mr Oshodi marked the statements Exhibit K31 after ruling on them to be admissibile in the ongoing trial.

The judge then adjourned the case until 6 October for the continuation of the trial.

Mr Emefiele and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, are facing 22 charges.

Nineteen of the charges that concern Mr Emefiele are receiving gratification, making corrupt demands, abuse of office involving transactions valued at $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion.

For his part, Mr Omoile faces three charges of unlawful acceptance of gifts.

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The court had fixed 9 July to rule on the admissibility of the statements after Mr Emefiele’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), challenged them.

Mr Ojo argued that the statements were not obtained voluntarily.

He alleged that they were extracted through oppression and physical and mental torture while Mr Emefiele was in detention.

The senior advocate told the court that the State Security Service (SSS) detained Mr. Emefiele for more than 157 days.

He relied on provisions of the Anti-Torture Act, 2017, and relevant sections of the Evidence Act.

“The issue before this honourable court is whether the statements credited to the first defendant were made voluntarily,” Mr Ojo said.

He argued that video recordings of interrogations were the most reliable proof of compliance with due process.

According to him, the absence of such recordings rendered the statements unreliable and inadmissible.

Mr Ojo also questioned the role of the lawyer who witnessed the interviews and urged the court to reject the statements.

However, the prosecution opposed the defence’s arguments.

READ ALSO: How bank waived due process for Emefiele’s multi-billion naira transactions – Witness

The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), called an EFCC investigator, Alvan Gurumnaan, as a witness.

Mr Gurumnaan told the court that the EFCC invited Mr Emefiele for questioning in his lawyer’s presence.

He said the interviews were conducted in the presence of Emefiele’s legal representative.

Mr Oyedepo argued that a trial-within-trial was unnecessary.

He maintained that the statements did not amount to confessions.

“There is nothing in the defendant’s statements that can be construed as an admission,” he submitted.

This trial is one of several prosecutions Mr Emefiele faces regarding corruption and fraud he allegedly perpetrated while in office.

He faces other charges in different courts in Abuja.

(NAN)