A former Secretary to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), John Ogah, testified before an Ikeja Special Offences Court on Wednesday about the alleged financial misconduct of the embattled former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Ogah, led in evidence by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), revealed that Emefiele instructed a Zenith Bank account officer, Ifeoma Ogbonnaya, to transfer funds into the account of his niece, Hannah.
“Hannah Emefiele is a niece to the first defendant. She is one the beneficiaries of the fund because my boss gives letter of instructions through mails which I forward to the account officer.
“In one of the mails, he instructed Ogbonnaya to pay into the account of Hannah Emefiele while I was still working with him,” Ogah said.
Emefiele’s Counsel, Mr Olalekan Ojo (SAN), however objected and queried the relevance of the name mentioned by the witness.
Ojo argued that Hannah’s name was not mentioned anywhere in the charge.
He argued that the prosecution imported the name in the course of giving evidence.
Oyedepo affirmed that though the defendant’s niece’s name was not mentioned in the charge, she, however, was alleged to have benefitted from the proceeds.
“The name came up because some of the proceeds that went into this account is traceable to some of the relatives of the first defendant,” he said.
The witness told the court that Ogbonnaya was the account officer of Limelight, Comec and Answin Resources Ltd. allegedly owned by Emefiele.
He further spoke into several emails messages which he told the court was given to him by Emefiele to send to Ogbonnaya asking her to carry out various instructions on behalf of the three companies allegedly owned by the former governor.
While under cross-examination, the witness confirmed to the court that Emefiele, his wife, Margaret, were not shareholders of the three companies alleged to be owned by them.
He confirmed to the court that he understood beneficial ownership of shares and that it is always in a documented form.
The witness, however, told the court that he did not produce any document indicating that Emefiele and his wife are shareholders of the three companies.
While being cross-examined by the second Defence Lead Counsel, Mr Kazeem Gbadamosi (SAN), the witness confirmed to the court that he is a director and a shareholder of a construction company.
“The company has account with Zenith Bank but I am not a signatory to it. My name is not on the mandate form when the account was opened,” he said.
Justice Rahman Oshodi adjourned the case until Nov. 28 for continuation of trial.
