A witness, Ali Mohammed, on Wednesday told a High Court, Maitama Division, Abuja, that a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, was not a signatory to the withdrawal of N124.86 billion from the consolidated revenue account.
The witness, a director of Home Finance, at the Federal Ministry of Finance, also admitted that neither his minister nor the Accountant-General of the Federation queried the withdrawal of the fund by the CBN.
Mr Emefiele is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a four-count charge bordering on disobedience to the direction of law and an illegal act causing injury to the public.
He was, among others, alleged in the charged marked FCT/HC/CR/264/2024 to have, between October 19, 2022, and March 5, 2023, disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act by approving the printing of 375,520,000 pieces of colour-swapped N1,000 notes at a total cost of N11,052,068,062 without the recommendation of the CBN Board and strict approval of the president, Federal Republic of Nigeria, which caused injury to the public.
According to the EFCC, the offences allegedly committed by the former CBN chief were against Section 123 of the Penal Code, Cap 89 Laws of the Federation, 1990, and punishable under the same law.
He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The witness was cross-examined by Mr Emefiele’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, in the trial of the ex-CBN governor for the naira redesign without presidential directive.
The witness also told the court that he was unaware that the withdrawn money was made for the hajj pilgrimage subsidy.
He told the court that the said N124.86 billion was neither traced to Mr Emefiele’s account nor was he a signatory to the consolidated revenue account belonging to the federal government.
He further told the court that he was not aware of the public transactions that led CBN to withdraw the said amount from the consolidated revenue account.
“I was invited by EFCC in respect of the withdrawal of the N124.86 billion but was neither interrogated on the circumstances that led to the withdrawal nor made any statement in respect of the same during my visit to the commission,” the witness said.
He added that he was not shown any document indicting the defendant on the withdrawal of the money by the EFCC operatives.
He said, “Of the three letters that emanated from the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General, none of the letters suggested the name of Emefiele as a signatory to the consolidated revenue account.”
He added that the ministry of finance did not write any letter to the CBN under Mr Emefiele for the purpose of withdrawing the money despite advice of the accountant-general of the federation.
The witness also said that the three letters did not also suggest that the former CBN governor authorised the debiting of the money from the federal government account.
The witness said the ministry did not take any steps in respect of the money withdrawn other than merely informing the special investigator that it was not aware of the transaction.
The witness told the court that he had no personal intersection with the special investigator that probed CBN under Mr Emefiele.
Answering further questions, the witness told the court that he was not aware that the late President Muhammadu Buhari obtained approval for the use of the Ways and Means policy between 2016 and 2023 from the National Assembly.
After the cross-examination, Abbas Mohammed, prosecution counsel, prayed the court to discharge the witness and adjourn the matter to a later date.
Justice Maryanne Anenih, however, adjourned the matter until November 26 for continuation of trial.
Earlier, in his evidence, the witness narrated how he received a letter from the special investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu to investigate CBN under Mr Emefiele and in respect of the withdrawn fund.
Mr Mohammed, who claimed to be the supervisor of three divisions under the Home Finance Unit of the ministry, said that he summoned an emergency meeting of the three divisions.
He said their heads denied privy to the alleged withdrawal of the N124.86 billion.
Following the denial of knowledge by the three divisions, he subsequently wrote a letter to the accountant-general of the federation through the permanent secretary of the ministry, seeking clarification on the alleged fund withdrawal.
In response, the witness told the court that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation also denied having knowledge of the transaction, adding that the Office concluded that the withdrawal of the N124.86 billion must have been done by the CBN.
He said the findings on the transaction were conveyed to the special investigator as a response to his request.
The witness subsequently tendered all letters from the Ministry of Finance and those of the Office Accountant-General of the Federation before the court and they were admitted as exhibits following no objection from Mr Emefiele’s counsel.
(NAN)