By Steve Aya / posted April 12, 2024
Monday Osazua, a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) staff, on Friday told an Ikeja Special Offences Court how the former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, used him to receive 3.1 million dollars from a businessman.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) brought a 23-count charge bordering on abuse of office and fraud to the tune of $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion against Emefiele and a 3-count charge against his co-defendant, Henry Omiole.
The prosecutor Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, led the first prosecution witness, Osazua, in evidence as he told the court of his work relationship with his former boss Emefiele.
Osazua told the court he works at the CBN Lagos branch under the office of the CBN governor as a Senior Supervisor following his 12-year period of work in Zenith Bank where he began as a dispatch rider in 2001 and worked with Emefiele who was at the time a Deputy Managing Director in the bank.
The witness told the court that the first defendant, Emefiele, sent him on errands; one of which was to collect a package from a businessman, through one of his employees.
Osazua said the package he received from the businessman contained $100,000 and he delivered it to the former CBN governor who would direct him to hand it over to the second defendant, Omiole whenever he was not in the house.
The witness said he received other money for Emefiele in different tranches including $850,000, $750,000, and $400,000, with the highest amount he received being $1 million.
He told the court that the former CBN governor asked him to check with the businessman on Fridays to collect money.
The prosecutor, Oyedepo asked the witness whether he recognised one MINL company, and he answered in the affirmative.
Osazua said, “I usually go to the MINL company to collect cheques.
“I collect the cheques and lodge the money into Dumies Oil and Gas Ltd.,” the witness added.
He said the cheques usually bore the name of Dumies Oil and Gas Ltd, a company where Margaret Emefiele, wife of the first defendant, is a director.
The prosecutor asked the witness whether he kept records of the money he received on behalf of the first defendant and he said no.
He said, “I was only instructed to collect the dollars and drop them at Emefiele’s house and not to keep records.”
Further, Osazua told the court that he did not benefit from the money he moved and said, “I don’t take from the money. I don’t tolerate such.”
The defence counsel, Abdulhakeem Labi-Lawal, had sought a later date to cross-examine the witness on the ground that he needed more time to study the extrajudicial statement of the first prosecution witness.
The judge, Oshodi, refused Labi-Lawal’s application and ordered him to carry out the cross-examination of the witness to accelerate the matter.
Oshodi told the defence counsel, “I stood down the matter by 10:00 am to allow both parties time to study the proofs of evidence. You must carry out the cross-examination.”
In his cross-examination, Labi-Lawal asked the defendant whether Emefiele had ever sent him on errands through the second defendant, Omiole, to which he answered in the affirmative.
Osazua said on some occasions, Emefiele would ask Omiole to give him an item from the house to bring to the office.
The judge adjourned the matter to April 29, 2024, to continue the trial.