The 7th prosecution witness, Mr. John Adetola, has alleged that he collected $400,000 on behalf of the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.
Adetola, who identified himself as Emefiele’s Executive Assistant, testified that he later handed the money over to his boss.
He provided this testimony on Thursday while being questioned by Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), before Justice Rahman Oshodi.
Adetola explained that his role included managing office correspondences, attending to visitors, and carrying out tasks assigned by Emefiele, responsibilities that gave him direct access to his boss.
Regarding the $400,000, Adetola stated he was called from his posting in Ekiti to collect the money.
“In 2018, I can’t remember the date, the personal assistant to the CBN Gov in Abuja, Mr Eric Odoh sent me a message on WhatsApp that I should go and collect $400,000 from John Ayoh, the former director of ICT Dept. and give same 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, I gave it to the former CBN Governor,” he said
He said he communicated with Emefiele, mentioning some of Emefiele’s family members.
“I communicate with the former CBN Governor through telephone, office line, email and verbal communication.
“I know Mr. George, I know Mr Okanta. They are Mr Emefiele’s brothers. I know his wife, Mrs Margaret Emefiele. I also know the second defendant, Henry Omoile, he lived in Emefiele’s house in Lagos,” he added.
Adetola informed the court that the EFCC accessed his phone, which contained office documents, questioned him about them, and subsequently printed the documents.
He identified some of the documents as records of his communication with John Ayoh and Odoh, confirming they were printed from his mobile phone.
Following this, the EFCC prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, sought the court’s permission to tender the documents as evidence.
Emefiele’s counsel, Olaleko Ojo (SAN), initially objected to the admissibility of the documents but later withdrew the objection when the prosecutor clarified that the documents were being tendered solely for identification purposes.
However, Adeyinka Kotoye (SAN), counsel for Emefiele’s co-defendant Henry Omoile, maintained his objection, arguing that the documents lacked legal basis. Oyedepo countered by asserting the documents’ relevance in proving critical aspects of the offence and insisted on submitting them for identification.
After reviewing the arguments, Justice Rahman Oshodi admitted the documents, marking them for identification purposes. The case was adjourned to December 10 for the cross-examination of the witness.
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