A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court on Tuesday granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) leave to play a compact disc as evidence in the ongoing trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Emefiele is facing trial before Justice Maryanne Anenih on a six-count charge filed by the EFCC, including allegations of unlawfully printing new naira notes as part of the controversial naira redesign policy.
The court granted the request following an application by the EFCC’s prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, during the continuation of the hearing.
At the resumed session, Oyedepo stated that the day’s business was to continue with the evidence of the prosecution’s seventh witness (PW7).
“My attention was drawn to a motion filed by the defendant’s counsel yesterday, though I learned it was served on EFCC on April 25,” Oyedepo said.
“The request in that motion will have an impact on the evidence of the witness; given that, I communicated with the defendant‘s counsel so that we can see how to go about it,” he added.
He told the court that he had a motion concerning a compact disc that had been sent to the defence and emphasised that the disc could only be played upon the court’s approval.
He, therefore, sought an adjournment for both parties to review the issues.
In response, the defence counsel, Olulekun Ojo, SAN, informed the court that a disclosure motion had been filed on April 24 requesting trial facilities.
He insisted that the motion did not preclude the continuation of PW7’s evidence.
“The facilities captured were what the prosecution stated to have provided at the inception of the case,” he said.
Ojo proposed that the trial proceed with the witness’s evidence to avoid wasting the court’s time and noted the financial burden involved in attending court.
The defence, he said, had already spent about N4 million traveling from Lagos for the proceedings.
He added that he would leave the decision to the discretion of the court.
After hearing both parties, Justice Anenih granted the EFCC leave to present the digital evidence.
“Application for adjournment is granted in the interest of justice to continue with the digital evidence and the oral evidence of PW7.
“Trial will continue on the already stated dates, May 6 and 22,” the judge ruled.
Emefiele served as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from June 2014 until June 2023 and was suspended in June 2023 shortly after President Bola Tinubu assumed office.
He was later arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) and handed over to the EFCC.
The commission has since filed multiple charges against him, including abuse of office, conspiracy and unlawful approval of currency printing.
