The Ministry of Finance was unaware of the CBN withdrawal of N124.86 billion under Emefiele, witnesses told the court

The Director of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Ali Mohammed, on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, told the Federal Capital Territory FCT High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, that the Ministry was unaware of the withdrawal of N124.86 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

Mohammed, who testified as prosecution witness 10, PW10, in the ongoing trial of former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, made this known when challenged in evidence by the prosecution’s attorney, Abbas Mohammed.

The witness said he was present in court because his Ministry received a letter from the investigation team regarding N154 billion said to have been withdrawn by the CBN.

Explaining his position and responsibilities in the Ministry, Mohammed said, “My Lord, the Department of Home Finance consists of three functions based on three divisions, namely State and Public Finance, Trade and Banking Division and Other Financial Institutions. These three divisions are under me.”

He further explained that after receiving the letter from investigators, he contacted the three divisions under his supervision to determine whether they were aware of the transaction.

According to him, none of the three divisions knew the secret of the transaction.

He said the State and Public Finance Investment Division was a relevant division because it supervised the CBN.

Asked what action he took after carrying out the inspection, Mohammed said, as a civil servant, the Minister of Finance does not give money directly to individuals or organizations.

Therefore, he said it was necessary to write a letter through the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, OAGF, to ascertain whether the office was aware of the transaction, as the custodian of payments for the Federal Government.

The witness told the court that the OAGF responded in writing that they were not aware of the transaction and concluded that the money was a direct credit from the CBN.

Speaking about why he wrote the OAGF, Mohammed said that the office was the right office to approach and he relied on the response from the Accountant General before responding to the Special Investigator.

“I responded via memo about what happened between my office and the AGF and asked permission for the document to be forwarded to the Special Investigator. Then the letter was forwarded,” he said.

He said the documents forwarded to the Special Investigator included a letter bearing the logo of the Federal Ministry of Finance which he signed, as well as an attached letter signed by the Accountant General of the Federation.

The witness identified the documents when they were shown to him in court and prosecutors later attempted to present them as evidence.

Asked about the whereabouts of the original documents, Mohammed said they had been forwarded to the Special Investigator.

Therefore, he attempted to offer an official copy of the document.

Defense attorney, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, said he had no objection.

Therefore, Judge Maryanne Anineh admitted and marked the documents as Exhibits AJ, AK and AL.

When examining the evidence, the prosecutor asked the witness to explain the purpose of AJ’s evidence.

Mohammed said the import of the documents was a withdrawal of N124.86 billion that the Federal Ministry of Finance did not know about.

He explained that he relied on a letter forwarded to the Ministry by the Accountant General before signing the document.

In Exhibit AL, the witness said it was confirmation from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation that it was not aware of any transactions involving N124.86 billion.

Referring back to Figure AJ, particularly the third line, Mohammed read: “Therefore, the figures under consideration are classified in the Ministry records as direct debit letters by the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

Explaining the meaning of the phrase, he told the court, “Direct debit means the funds are withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria without the assistance of any office in Nigeria. That is what it means.”

The witness further stated that, normally, the Accountant General’s Office, which is supervised by the Federal Ministry of Finance, would be directed before withdrawals were made.

He added that the letter does not indicate that the Federal Ministry of Finance has directed the Accountant General’s Office to make withdrawals, specifically from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Earlier in the trial, the prosecution’s nine witnesses, PW9, Hamisu Abdullahi, Director of CBN Banking Services continued his statement.

The prosecutor reminded the witness that during cross-examination on May 4, 2026, he mentioned a particular email and asked if he could remember it. He answered firmly.

He explained that the email was generated from their computer system, certified as a genuine copy, signed and accompanied by a certificate of compliance.

According to him, the email conveyed the directive of the then Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to recover the debit amount of N1.4 billion in the receivables account of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

When shown the document, the witness confirmed that he could identify it.

The prosecutor then asked to offer the email and the certificate attached to it.

Ojo, SAN, representing the defense admitted that he had no objection.

Judge Anineh then received the documents and marked them as Exhibits AH1 and AH2 respectively.

Since there were no further questions for PW9, the witness was removed from the witness box.

Judge Anineh then adjourned the case until 7 October 2026 for cross-examination and continuation of the trial.

Emefiele is being tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on four charges that include alleged disobedience to lawful directions and unlawful acts allegedly causing harm to members of the public in connection with the controversial naira redesign policy.