A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has asked the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory to dismiss the $6.23m procurement fraud charges filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Emefiele’s request followed a no-case submission by his lead counsel, Matthew Burkaa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who argued that the prosecution had failed to present sufficient evidence linking his client to the alleged offences.
Burkaa maintained that the EFCC’s witnesses did not establish that Emefiele manipulated the contract award process or used his position to favour companies allegedly connected to his wife and in-law.
He argued that the evidence showed that the firms, April 1616 and Archetekon, executed the vehicle supply contracts awarded to them by the CBN, adding that the prosecution failed to prove that the former CBN governor influenced the selection process.
The defence lawyer also challenged allegations relating to the withdrawal of $6.23m from the apex bank, questioning the handling of claims that signatures belonging to former President Muhammadu Buhari, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, and Emefiele were forged.
Burkaa argued that the EFCC should have investigated the alleged forgery involving the three signatures, noting that the prosecution had not adequately explained why Buhari and Mustapha were not investigated over the matter.
However, the EFCC’s counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, also a SAN, urged the court to reject the application, insisting that evidence before it showed that Emefiele allegedly abused his office to give undue advantage to Archetekon and other companies. He further alleged that some contracts bypassed the CBN’s Tenders Board Committee, while one of the firms was allegedly given information that placed it ahead of competitors.
Oyedepo also cited testimony concerning the withdrawal of the funds and alleged instructions for their disbursement, arguing that the evidence raised questions about Emefiele’s conduct while in office. After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge reserved a ruling on the no-case submission for a date to be communicated to the parties.
