Emefiele’s Fraud Trial: How N1.3bn Was Paid To Firm Linked To CBN Staff, By Witness

Remigius Ugwu, a Compliance Officer with Zenith Bank, on Tuesday, narrated to Justice Hamza Muazu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) how the sum of N1.3 bil­lion was at different times wired into the account of April 1616 In­vestment Ltd, a company alleged­ly linked to Saadatu Ramallan Yaro, a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Emefiele is being prosecut­ed over allegation bordering on breach of procurement proce­dure in the award of the contract to April 1616 Investment Limited.

Ugwu, a witness called by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was testi­fying in an alleged fraud case of N1.6 billion filed against the former governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, by the agency.

Among the 6-count charge lev­elled against Emefiele, the EFCC alleged that the sacked CBN governor, sometime in 2018, used his position to confer a corrupt advantage on Saadatu Ramal­lan Yaro, a staff of the CBN, by awarding a contract for the sup­plying of 37 Toyota Hilux vehicles at the cost of N854,700,000 to April 1616 Investment Ltd, a company in which the said Saadatu Ramal­lan Yaro, is a director.

Ugwu, testifying as the 2nd prosecution witness, was led in evidence by the EFCC lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN).

Specifically, he told Justice Muazu how on October 19, 2020, a sum of N39,060,465, another N421,953,488 on November 6, 2020 and the third one, N304,883,720 was paid on November 23, 2020, to the same company linked to the embattled CBN staff, who is equally facing trial with Emefiele.

Similarly, the witness dis­closed that N304, 883,720 was paid on January 1, 2021 and another N304, 883, 720 paid to the same company on March 23, 2021 by the CBN.

Though, Ugwu admitted that none of the payments had any link with Emefiele’s name, how­ever, he confessed not knowing the purpose of the payments.

The witness tendered various documents on behalf of Zenith Bank, adding that the former CBN governor was not a sig­natory to the bank account of April1616 Ltd.

At the beginning of the trial, the first prosecution witness, Samsideen Romanus, a top of­ficial of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) informed the court that Emefiele was not the owner or shareholder of the April1616 Investment Limited, a company which the CBN under Emefiele, awarded the N1.2 bil­lion vehicle supply contract.

The witness gave evidence on how the company was incorpo­rated on August 1, 2016 and ten­dered several documents on how the company was floated.

He read out before the court, names of the shareholders of the company, which comprised Aminu Idris Yaro, Maryam Aliyu Abdullahi and Saadatu Ramalan Yaro as joint owners of the entity.

Romanus while tendering several documents on how the company was incorporated on August 1, 2016, said that Eme­fiele’s name was not connected with the company.

The witness explained that although CAC was responsible for incorporation of the compa­ny, however, it played no roles in the day to day running of affairs of the entity.

The third witness, Oluwole Owoeye, a Deputy Director, Bank­ing Services with CBN and for­mer Secretary to Major Contract Tendering Committee (MCTC) of the CBN, said that his body was responsible for ensuring of com­pliance with Procurement Act.

Owoeye, however, informed the court that his committee was not involved in the vetting of bidding for the award of con­tracts that led to prosecution of Emefiele.

The witness explained that another committee handled the bidding because it was above the thresholds of his own committee.

“My Lord, all I know is through our records is that con­tracts for award of vehicle sup­plies were awarded to April1616 but I cannot say whether the contracts were executed or paid for because my committee played no role”.

He admitted that MCTC and Procurement Department were fully functional while Emefiele held sway as CBN governor.

Meanwhile, further trial has been adjourned to January 18 and 19, next year.

The former CBN chief was accused of conferring corrupt advantages on a staff of CBN, Mrs. Saadat Ramallan Yaro, through awards of vehicle supply contracts worth over N1.2 billion contrary to Section 19 of the Cor­rupt Practices and other Related Offences Act 2000.

Other charges against Eme­fiele are, “That you Godwin If­eanyi Emefiele, sometime in 2019 within the jurisdiction of this court, did use your position as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to confer a corrupt advantage on Saadatu Ramallan Yaro, a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria by awarding a contract for the supply of one Toyota Ava­lon at the cost of N99, 900, 000 to April1616 Investment Ltd, a com­pany in which the said Saadatu Ramallan Yaro is a director and thereby committed an offence.

“That you Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, sometime in 2019 within the jurisdiction of this court, did use your position as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to confer a corrupt advantage on Saadatu Ramallan Yaro, a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria by awarding a contract for the supply of one Toyota Land Cruiser V8 at the cost of N73, 800, 000 to April1616 Investment Ltd, a company in which the said Saadatu Ramallan Yaro is a di­rector and thereby committed an offence.

“That you Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, sometime in 2020 with­in the jurisdiction of this court, did use your position as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to confer a corrupt advan­tage on Saadatu Ramallan Yaro, a staff of the Central Bank of Nige­ria by awarding a contract for the supply of two Toyota Hilux Shell specification vehicles at the cost of N44, 200, 000 to April1616 Invest­ment Ltd, a company in which the said Saadatu Ramallan Yaro is a director and thereby committed an offence.

“That you, Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, sometime in 2020 with­in the jurisdiction of this court, did use your position as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to confer a corrupt advan­tage on Saadatu Ramallan Yaro, a staff of the Central Bank of Ni­geria by awarding a contract for the supply of one Toyota Land Cruiser VXR V8 contract no: POO26821 at the cost of N69, 000, 000 to April1616 Investment Ltd, a company in which the said Saada­tu Ramallan Yaro is a director and thereby committed an offence.

“That you Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, sometime in 2020 within the jurisdiction of this court, did use your position as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to confer a corrupt advantage on Saadatu Ramallan Yaro, a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria by awarding a contract for the supply of one Toyota Land Cruiser VXR V8 at the cost of N69, 000, 000, contract no: POO26822 to April1616 Investment Ltd, a com­pany in which the said Saadatu Ramallan Yaro is a director and thereby committed an offence”.