Godwin Emefiele, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has pleaded with the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja to stop the EFCC from calling further witnesses in his current prosecution for procurement fraud.
Matthew Burkaa (SAN), Emefiele’s lead attorney, contended on Monday that the EFCC shouldn’t be permitted to bring additional witnesses because it had only named ten in its proof of evidence.
Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), the prosecution attorney for the EFCC, countered the application, arguing that further testimony was required for a fair and comprehensive trial.
Oyedepo emphasized that the EFCC’s right to a fair hearing would be violated if it were prohibited from calling additional witnesses. Justice Hamza Muazu postponed the decision until March 20 after hearing arguments from both sides.
In the case designated FCT/HC/CR/577/2023, Emefiele is charged with 20 counts of criminal breach of trust, forgery, and conspiracy. Additionally, he is charged with abusing his authority as governor of the CBN to give two businesses, April 1616 Nigeria Ltd. and Architekon Nigeria Ltd., corrupt advantages.
Salawu Gana, the EFCC’s tenth witness, stated during Monday’s sessions that the contract given to April 1616 for the CBN’s car purchases complied with both CBN regulations and procurement rules.
During Emefiele’s attorney’s cross-examination, Gana claimed that the CBN Procurement Department compared all of the quotes that were submitted and chose April 1616 for the contract since it provided the best deal.
He said that the CBN Tenders Board’s recommendations were the only reason Emefiele accepted the deal, and that the vehicles were delivered and the April 1616 payment was made in accordance with the board’s recommendations.
He asserts that there is no proof connecting Emefiele to the payments made from the bank account in April 1616 and that Emefiele was not a member of the CBN Tenders Board.
He added that Emefiele was neither a signatory to the bank account of April 1616, nor was he a director or shareholder.
Gana also testified that Emefiele did not influence the procurement process in favour of April 1616 and had no direct oversight over procurement staff.
Bundles of materials pertaining to the bidding procedure for 45 distinct contracts involving April 1616, RT Briscoe, and Globe Motors were produced by the EFCC through its legal representative. However, Gana insisted that April 1616’s submission of the lowest bids earned it the contracts.