EFCC Witness Tells Court $2m Recovered from Emefiele’s Lawyer

A prosecution witness on Thursday told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court that the sum of $2 million was recovered from the lawyer of Godwin Emefiele, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria,  as part of ongoing investigations into alleged financial crimes involving the ex-apex bank chief.

The witness, David Jaiyeoba, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), disclosed during his testimony that the cash was recovered from Collins Omeife, a lawyer linked to Emefiele.

Jaiyeoba told the court that during interrogation, Omeife admitted that the money belonged to Emefiele.

According to the EFCC witness, the lawyer also confirmed that he regularly received funds from Eric Ocheme, who served as Emefiele’s personal assistant.

He said the funds were subsequently used to acquire various properties and to renovate some older assets allegedly linked to the former CBN governor.

The witness listed several properties said to have been acquired or developed using the funds.

They include detached duplexes located at No. 17B Hakeem Odumosu Street in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, as well as a bungalow and an undeveloped parcel of land measuring 1,919.592 square metres on Oyinkan Abayomi Drive in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Jaiyeoba further told the court that investigators also traced a four-bedroom duplex at 12A Probyn Road in Ikoyi, Lagos, to the alleged transactions.

Other properties listed during the testimony include an industrial complex under construction on 22 plots of land in Agbor, Delta State, as well as eight units of semi-detached apartments on Adekunle Lawal Road in Ikoyi.

A detached duplex on Bank Road in Ikoyi was also mentioned as part of the assets allegedly linked to the funds under investigation.

The EFCC had in June 2023 filed a 20-count amended charge against Emefiele, accusing him of multiple offences including criminal breach of trust, forgery, obtaining by false pretence, conspiracy to commit forgery, procurement fraud, and conspiracy to commit a felony.

Prosecutors also alleged that the former CBN governor authorised the fraudulent payment of $6.23 million from the CBN vault in Abuja in 2023, purportedly for expenses related to foreign election observers.

According to the anti-graft agency, the payment was made under the pretext of settling costs for international election observers, an expense investigators claim was fictitious.