Emefiele Trial: Witness Admits No Record of Alleged $400,000 Delivery to Ex-CBN Governor

At the ongoing corruption trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, the seventh prosecution witness, Mr. John Adetola, admitted to an Ikeja High Court that he did not document the alleged $400,000 he said he handed over to Emefiele.

During cross-examination by Emefiele’s lead counsel, Mr. Olalekan Ojo (SAN), Adetola — who served as Emefiele’s executive assistant — also revealed that he provided no WhatsApp chats or phone call logs to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to back his claim.

Though Adetola had earlier testified that he received the money in 2018 from one John Ayoh — following an instruction via WhatsApp from Eric Odoh — and then gave it to Emefiele in Lagos, he acknowledged under questioning that he kept no records of the alleged transaction.

“I went to John Ayoh’s house at Lekki; he gave me an envelope. I came back to the office and gave it to the former CBN governor,” Adetola told the court.

He also confirmed that his EFCC statement did not mention any communication with Emefiele about the money and denied entering into any immunity deal with the anti-graft agency.

During additional cross-examination by Mr. Adeyinka Kotoye (SAN), counsel for the second defendant, Henry Omoile, Adetola said he had no dealings with Omoile concerning the case.

When re-examined by EFCC prosecutor Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN) on why he failed to document the $400,000 delivery, Adetola simply said:

“I didn’t see any need for it.”

Justice Rahman Oshodi discharged the witness and adjourned the matter to May 27 for the continuation of trial.

Emefiele faces a 19-count charge involving corruption and gratification, while Omoile is being tried separately on three counts related to unlawful gift acceptance.