A witness, Richard Agulu, a former Zenith Bank staff member, testified that he never received any money directly from the former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
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Agulu, who now works at the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), was testifying as the third Prosecution Witness in the trial of Emefiele.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed an eight-count charge against the former CBN governor concerning a disputed Abuja housing estate.
The property, located at Plot 109, Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, measures 150,462.86 SQM and comprises 753 housing units.
During cross-examination by Matthew Burkaa, Emefiele’s counsel, Agulu said: “I never received a dime directly from the defendant (Emefiele); I received the funds through his personal assistant, Eric Ocheme.”
Burkaa asked, “Is it correct to say that you never saw the defendant giving Eric money to give you?” The witness replied, “I have never seen that, but he passes instructions through phone calls via Ocheme for me.”
When asked to provide the defendant’s phone number, Agulu said he did not have it. He also said he does not know how many times the transactions occurred and could not recall the exact number of times he mentioned in his EFCC statement.
When asked if he clearly stated in the EFCC statement that he received instructions via phone, the witness replied: “What I can remember in my statement is that I got my instructions from the defendant through Ocheme.”
Burkaa tendered Agulu’s extrajudicial statement to “refresh his memory.” However, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Rotimi Oyedepo, prosecution counsel, objected, stating that the statement is only admissible if there is a contradiction, and the application to refresh memory must come from the witness.
He asked the judge not to reject the document but to delay its admission. Burkaa responded: “The prosecution cannot be arguing its own documents since it was filed among the proof of evidence.”
Following arguments, the DPP withdrew the objection. The judge admitted the extrajudicial statement and marked it as Exhibit G.
Burkaa then asked the witness to peruse the document and read out where the defendant was spoken to by phone. Agulu replied, “I cannot see anywhere I said ‘phone,’ but I said it was by his instructions.”
Justice Yusuf Halilu adjourned the case until April 22 for the continuation of cross-examination.
Earlier, the witness stated that the owners of Kelvito Integrated Services, Chukwuma Okpala, and Ifeadigo Integrated Services, Peter Adebayo, authenticated the transactions he referred to in his January testimony.
“It was with their instructions that the transactions were effected by the bank,” he said, adding that the instructions were carried out using banking instruments, mainly cheques.
“The defendant gave instructions to me through his personal assistant, Eric,” Agulu said, noting that the instructions were executed via cheques, not letters, emails, or text messages.
He explained that according to CBN guidelines and Zenith Bank operational policies, a staff member is only permitted to honor the instructions of an account holder through formal communication, cheques, or the customer being present at the bank.
However, neither Emefiele nor Ocheme was the account holder. Therefore, Agulu included the owners’ names in the deposit slip whenever he deposited cash into their accounts. He also disclosed his personal relationship with Adebayo, saying, “We were friends.”
Burkaa tendered the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) status report of Rites Impex Project Limited, but Oyedepo objected on two grounds: it was not a certified true copy and did not comply with Section 85 of the Evidence Act, with no details regarding payment.
Burkaa withdrew the document but noted that Remita records would be attached and subsequently tendered. He also tendered summaries of Zenith Bank’s operational policies.
Oyedepo objected, stating he was not served with a copy of the document, and that it could not be tendered through the witness as he was no longer a Zenith Bank staff member.
Justice Halilu admitted the documents but urged the parties to “re-echo their arguments in their final written address.”
The witness confirmed that he deposited the money and recorded the names of Messrs. Okpala and Adebayo as depositors.
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