Witness Recounts How Emefiele Purportedly Gave Contracts To His Wife And In-law

Witness Recounts How Emefiele Purportedly Gave Contracts To His Wife And In-law

A prosecution witness testified before a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama that former Governor Godwin Emefiele of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), who is presently on trial for charges of fraud and corruption, gave billions of naira to family members, including his wife Margaret Emefiele, and associates, through 45 contracts.

In a testimony before a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, a prosecution witness stated that former Governor Godwin Emefiele of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), who is presently on trial for charges of fraud and corruption, allegedly gave billions of naira to family members and associates through 45 contracts.

Agboro Michael, an ICPC investigator, testified in court on Monday in Abuja. He named April 1616 Investment Limited as one of the two recipients of the numerous contracts. Sa'adatu Ramalan Yero is an associate of Emefiele and employee of CBN.

The witness claims that Margaret Emefiele, Emefiele's wife, is the owner of Architekon Nigeria Limited. Moreover, some of the contracts were alleged to have benefited one of Margaret's brothers.

“My Lord, these companies were awarded about 45 contracts to supply Toyota Vehicles. We were worried as investigators as to how a particular company would get bids concurrently to supply vehicles. We did our investigation and discovered that the company was not even accredited by Toyota, Michael said in his testimony as the seventh prosecution.

“My Lord, these companies were awarded about 45 contracts to supply Toyota Vehicles. We were worried as investigators as to how a particular company would get bids concurrently to supply vehicles. We did our investigation and discovered that the company was not even accredited by Toyota, Michael said in his testimony as the seventh prosecution.

“In the companies, my Lord, one has Sa'adatu's husband and siblings as directors, and the other one has Sa'adatu as the director of the company while she is still a civil servant.”

According to the testimony of the witness before the court, an interagency investigation conducted by the EFCC, ICPC, State Security Service (SSS), Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), and others revealed that Emefiele awarded the contracts in order to give the beneficiaries corrupt advantages.

Following being ousted from office by President Bola Tinubu in June of last year, Emefiele, the governor of the CBN for almost ten years, is prosecuted on charges of corruption.

The amended 20 counts against him include conspiracy, forgery, criminal breach of trust, conferment of corrupt advantages, and obtaining $6.23 million through false pretenses.