A deputy director with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Michael Onyeka Ogbu, on Monday narrated before Justice Hamza Muazu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting at Maitama, Abuja, how the bank released $6,230,000 for the payment of some international election observers before the 2023 general election.
Ogbu was testifying in the trial of the immediate past CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on behalf of the Federal Government.Emefiele is being prosecuted, in the case marked CR/577/2023, on an amended 20-count charge bordering on conferment of corrupt advantage, forgery, criminal breach of trust, conspiracy to obtain by false pretence and obtaining money by false pretence.
Emefiele is accused of allegedly forging a document titled: Re: Presidential Directive on Foreign Election Observer Missions dated 26 January, 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201 and purported same to have emanated from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) to the Governor of the CBN.
He is further alleged to have, on February 8, 2023, knowingly obtained by false pretence, $6,230,000.00 by falsely representing that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation vide a letter dated 26 January, 2023 with Ref No. SGF 43/L.01/201 requested the CBN to provide a contingent logistic advance in the sum of $6,230,000 “in line with Mr President’s directive”.
He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge brought against him by the government.
At the resumed hearing of the case on Monday, Ogbu, currently the Head of the Service Delivery Division of CBN, told the court while giving his evidence-in-chief that the sum of $6,230,000 was released by the bank because the request documents showed evidence of approvals by the then President Muhammadu Buhari and Emefiele.
Led on evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo SAN, he informed the court that he served as the branch controller in the CBN until he was redeployed in September, 2023.
According to Ogbu, on February 8, 2023 there was a request for payment of $6,230,000 addressed to the branch controller from the Banking Services Department.
He explained that the document instructed the branch controller to pay the money to a staff member of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, adding that it further mentioned the identity and the name of the person.
Ogbu stated: “On that day, the request for the payment of $6,230,000 was received in my office by my office assistant, who brought it to my attention. When I received the document, I found that it is from Banking Services Department.
“The Director, Banking Services signed the memo and the content of the memo contained an instruction for the branch controller to pay the sum of $6,230,000 to a staff of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, with the identity and the name of the person mentioned.
“The memo said the payment was for international election observers and that we should debit an account – NairaForex Account – with the naira equivalent of $6,230,000.
“The memo also said that the money will be refunded in the second quarter of 2023 by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
“It went on to say ‘find attached the approval of the Governor of the CBN for the payment.’
“The attachment had the approval of the Governor of the CBN. It also had the approval of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the request letter from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,” the prosecution witness told the court,” he posited.
Ogbu further said that having gone through the documents and being satisfied, he minuted on it to the Head of Business Services Unit for processing and payment, saying that, “ours is to make payment, we don’t have power to approve.
Asked by the prosecutor if the money was eventually released, Ogbu disclosed that the payment was eventually made in cash on September 8, 2023.
In an attempt to tender the said documents in evidence, the prosecuting counsel showed the witness a bundle of documents, which he identified as the documents he referred to.
The witness then proceeded to identify them one after the other, saying that, “the first page is the payment slip which was issued at the point of payment from my bank to the person nominated to receive the payment.
“The second page is the memo from the Banking Services Department, authorising the branch to make the payment of $6,230,000.
“The third page is the request of the Director, Banking Services Department for approval of the Governor for the payment.”
The fourth page, according to the witness, was the copy of the identification of the authorised cashier and an identity card from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Ogbu said the fifth page was a draft of the memo for approval, which was sent to the governor, from the Banking Services Department, containing the governor’s approval and signature.
He informed that the sixth page, was the request letter from the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, addressed to the CBN governor, conveying presidential approval, addressed to the SGF, for the payment of the $6,230,000.
Having discovered that two pages of the document were not properly certified, Oyedepo urged the court to allow him to tender them as they were, with a promise to replace them later with properly certified copies.
This request was opposed by the counsel for Emefiele, Matthew Burkaa SAN.
Based on the opposition to his request, the prosecutor then asked the court for a 30-minute standdown for him to get the documents certified.
This was also rejected by Burkaa on the ground that knowing the bureaucratic bottleneck involved; it would take the prosecuting counsel more than the 30 minutes he requested.
Burkaa said instead of a standdown, the court should adjourn the case to today with a view to giving the prosecution sufficient time to put its house in order.
This was accepted by Justice Muazu, who then adjourned the matter to today for continuation of the hearing.
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