A witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) John Adetola testified on Thursday at the Lagos Special Offences Court in Ikeja, describing how he handed over $400,000 to the embattled former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele.
Mr Adetola, who served as an executive assistant to Mr Emefiele, provided his testimony before Justice Rahman Oshodi during the ongoing trial.
Emefiele and his co-defendant Henry Omoile are facing a 26-count charge which includes allegations of abuse of office as well as fraud amounting to $4.5 billion and ₦2.8 billion.
While being led in evidence by EFCC prosecutor Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), Adetola detailed how he was instructed to deliver the funds.
He said: “In 2018, I can’t remember the date, Mr. Eric Odoh sent me a message on WhatsApp that I should go and collect the sum of $400,000 from John Ayoh and give it to the former CBN governor when he came to Lagos.
“I went to the house of John Ayoh at Lekki in Lagos. He gave me an envelope and I came back to the office, and I gave it to the former CBN governor.”
He also stated that he knew Emefiele from the time he was the managing director of Zenith Bank.
Adetola also informed the court that his phone was assessed by the EFCC and he was questioned about some office documents.
“In 2018, I can’t remember the date, Mr Eric sent me a message on WhatsApp that I should go collect $400,000 from John Ayoh and give it to the former CBN Governor when he comes to Lagos.
“I went to the house of John Ayoh at Lekki in Lagos State; he gave me an envelope, and I came back to the office; I gave it to the former CBN Governor,” the witness said.
An attempt by the prosecution to tender the documents as exhibits was, however, resisted by the defence counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN) and Adeyinka Kotoye (SAN).
But Justice Oshodi, in a bench ruling, dismissed the objection by the defence and admitted as exhibits “a combination of official communication between the witness and Emefiele via WhatsApp, between the witness and John Ogah and Eric Odoh.”
The case was adjourned till December 10.
