The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to prevent the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from calling more witnesses in his ongoing N2.1 billion procurement fraud trial.
This was revealed during a court ruling by Justice Hamza Muazu.
Emefiele’s lead attorney, Matthew Burkaa, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), argued that since the EFCC had listed only 10 witnesses in the evidence presented to the court, they should not be permitted to call additional witnesses.
However, the EFCC’s prosecuting attorney, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), opposed the motion, arguing that additional testimonies were essential for a complete and fair presentation of the case.
Oyedepo emphasized that preventing the agency from calling more witnesses would violate their right to a fair hearing.
Also the EFCC’s 10th witness, Salawu Gana, testified that the contract awarded to ‘April 1616’ for the supply of vehicles to the CBN complied with procurement laws and CBN guidelines.
While responding to questions during cross-examination by Emefiele’s attorney, Gana explained that the CBN’s Procurement Department evaluated the bids, reviewed the submissions, and decided to award the contract to April 1616 due to its lowest bid.
He added that Emefiele only approved the contract based on the recommendations from the CBN Tenders Board.
Gana also confirmed that the vehicles were delivered, and payment was made to April 1616 following the Tenders Board’s recommendations to Emefiele for approval.
As the Head of the Procurement Unit at the time, Gana emphasized that Emefiele was not part of the CBN Tenders Board.
He admitted that neither he nor the five procurement officers who recommended April 1616 had been charged by the EFCC.
Gana also stated that he had never seen any evidence or documents proving that money was transferred from April 1616’s bank account to Emefiele.
He further confirmed that Emefiele was neither a director, shareholder, nor a signatory to the company’s bank account, according to the company’s registration certificate.
Additionally, Gana testified that Emefiele did not influence nor direct him, either through phone calls or text messages, to favor April 1616 in the procurement process.
He explained that he reported directly to his supervisor, Ekanem Akpan, not to Emefiele.
The EFCC prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, (SAN) presented several exhibits related to the bidding process for 45 contracts awarded to April 1616, RT Briscoe and Globe Motors for vehicle supplies to the CBN.
During his testimony, Gana reiterated that April 1616 was awarded the contracts because it submitted the lowest quotations
After hearing arguments from both parties, Justice Hamza Muazu postponed the ruling until Tuesday, March 20.
