A prosecution witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday failed to establish any connection between former Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele and the Zenith Bank accounts cited in the ongoing property fraud case.
Emefiele, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is charged with property fraud, among other charges.
The property is located at Plot 109, Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and measures 150,462.86 SQM, comprising 753 housing units.
Emefiele and Eric Ocheme, at large, are also charged with unlawfully holding billions of naira in proxy accounts at Zenith Bank.
At the resumed hearing of the matter in an Abuja High Court, the first prosecution witness (PW1), Mshelia Arhyel, was taken in evidence by prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN.
He is a compliance officer at Zenith Bank, and he narrated how funds were received and deposited into the accounts of three companies.
The companies are MG Properties Limited, Ifedigo Integrated Services and Kelvito Integrated Services.
The witness also mentioned the names of cash depositors and transfer recipients, such as Chukwuma Opara, Peters Adebayo, and Wilson.
Under cross-examination by Matthew Burkaa, SAN, Emefiele’s counsel , the witness told the court that he does not know the owner of the accounts.
When he was asked whether he was called to make a statement by the EFCC in respect of the accounts, he said no and that he never knew he was going to testify.
He, however, said he signed the certificate of compliance on May 29 and never knew it would be used as evidence.
When asked if Emefiele’s name was on the account opening documents, he said no.
Justice Yusuf Halilu adjourned the trial after cross-examination until Nov. 26 for continuation.
Earlier, Emefiele, through his counsel, challenged the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the suit on the grounds that he was not in any way linked with the charge and the charge should be quashed.
Burkaa told the court that the preliminary objection prays for three orders and 6 grounds, supported by affidavits and a written address.
He argued on a point of law and prayed the court to grant his prayers.
Responding, Oyedepo, for the prosecution, opposed the application, arguing that the charge should not be quashed because the defendant (Emefiele) is linked to it.
After their submissions, the court asked them to proceed with the trial; their arguments will be looked into.
In count one of the charge, the EFCC accused Emefiele and Ocheme of knowingly having within their control the housing estate suspected to be unlawfully obtained, contrary to the law.
In count two, they were alleged to have knowingly been in possession of the sum of N167 million, domiciled in Kelvito Integrated Services’ account.
In count three, they were alleged to have held N1.23 billion in the same account.
EFCC claimed that the said sums were suspected to have been unlawfully obtained.
In other counts, they were also linked with the sum of N900 million and N600 million in Ifedigo Integrated Services’ account domiciled with Zenith Bank.
