A director in the federal ministry of finance has told a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama that the ministry and the office of the accountant-general of the federation (OAGF) were unaware of the withdrawal of N124.86 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
At the proceedings on Tuesday, Ali Mohammed, who testified
as the 10th prosecution witness (PW10) in the trial of Godwin Emefiele, former
CBN governor, told the court that the transaction was classified in the
ministry’s records as a direct debit by the apex bank.
Mohammed was led in evidence by Abbas Mohammed, counsel for
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He said the ministry became aware of the transaction after
receiving a letter from the investigation team concerning N154 billion said to
have been withdrawn by the CBN.
Mohammed said he contacted the three divisions under his
supervision to determine whether they were aware of the transaction.
According to him, none of the divisions had knowledge of the
transaction, noting that the state and public finance investment division
oversees the CBN.
Mohammed said he subsequently wrote, through the permanent
secretary, to the OAGF to establish whether the office was aware of the
transaction.
He said the OAGF responded that it was not aware of the
transaction and indicated that the money was a direct credit from the CBN.
The witness said he relied on the response from the office
of the accountant-general before responding to the special investigator.
The documents exchanged between the ministry and the OAGF
were tendered by the prosecution and admitted in evidence after Olalekan Ojo,
defence counsel, said he had no objection.
Explaining one of the documents, Mohammed said it showed
that the N124.86 billion withdrawal was not known to the federal ministry of
finance.
He also explained the meaning of the reference to a “direct
debit” in the document.
“Direct debit means it was withdrawn from the Central Bank
of Nigeria without recourse of any office in Nigeria. That is what it means,”
he said.
Mohammed said the OAGF, which is supervised by the finance
ministry, would ordinarily receive a directive before a withdrawal was made.
He added that the letter did not indicate that the finance
ministry had directed the OAGF to make the withdrawal, particularly from the
consolidated evenue fund.
Earlier, Hamisu Abdullahi, director of banking services at
the CBN and PW9, continued his testimony.
The prosecution referred him to an email he had mentioned
during cross-examination on May 4, 2026.
Abdullahi said the email was generated from the CBN’s
computer system, certified as a true copy and accompanied by a certificate of
compliance.
He said the email conveyed a directive from the then CBN
governor to recover N1.4 billion debit in the receivables account from the
consolidated revenue fund.
The witness identified the document when it was shown to
him, while the prosecution subsequently tendered the email and its accompanying
certificate.
Ojo did not object to their admission, and Maryanne Anineh,
presiding judge, admitted them as Exhibits AH1 and AH2.
Abdullahi was thereafter discharged from the witness box.
The court adjourned the case until Wednesday for
cross-examination and continuation of trial.
Emefiele is being prosecuted by the EFCC on a four-count
charge bordering on alleged disobedience to lawful directives and unlawful acts
allegedly causing harm to members of the public in connection with the naira
redesign policy.
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