Monday, February 12, 2024 -At the resumed trial of the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, Onyeka Ogbu, a prosecution witness told the court that he was aware of a $6.2million payment request for international election observers.
Ogbu, is a Deputy Director in charge of
Branch Operations in the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He was accused of impersonating the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation to illegally obtain a sum of
$6.2m.
The anti-graft agency alleged that
Emefiele, in January 2023, forged a document titled: “Re: Presidential
directive on foreign election observer missions” dated January 26, 2023 with
Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201.
According to The PUNCH report, Ogbu, the
prosecution witness, told the court at resumed trial that the request of the
$6.2million was made on January 8, 2023.
He noted that he reviewed the documents and
subsequently gave approval for disbursement, which was then executed.
Ogbu said, “On January 8, 2023, a request
for payment of $6,230,000 was brought to my attention by the Banking Services
department.
“Ours is to make payment, we don’t have the
power to approve.
“Having gone through the documents and
satisfied, I minuted on it and sent for processing and disbursement which was
complied with.”
All documents were identified, but certain
pages were absent.
According to the paper, following the
observation of missing pages the prosecution counsel led by Rotimi Oyedepo
(SAN), prayed the court for a temporary halt to address the issue.
The defence counsel, Matthew Burkaa (SAN),
however, objected, adding that the prosecution is bound by the evidence
presented in the documents.
He said adjournment is better to allow the
prosecution to get all the certified true copies and also for the witness to be
cross-examined.
After listening to their submissions,
Justice Hamza Muazu adjourned till Tuesday for the continuation of trial.
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