Emefiele: Witness admits ₦5 billion transfers did not follow banking procedures

A prosecution witness in the trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele, has told the FCT High Court in Maitama that he was given an oral waiver to process the disputed transactions outside normal banking procedures.

The witness, Richard Agulu, a former staff member of Zenith Bank, made the statement on Tuesday during cross-examination by Emefiele’s lawyer, Mathew Burkaa, SAN.

Agulu is the third prosecution witness in the case brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against Emefiele and one Eric Ocheme, who is said to be at large.

The charge is marked FCT/HC/CR/358/2025.

The EFCC has accused Emefiele and Ocheme of illegally holding billions of naira in delegated accounts at Zenith Bank.

The commission further alleged that Emefiele forged a document titled “Irrevocable Power of Attorney between MG Properties Limited and H and Y Business Global Limited” in January 2021.

According to the EFCC, the alleged forgery was intended to make it appear that the document was executed by or with the authority of H and Y Business Global Limited.

The alleged crimes would be contrary to articles 319, 362 and 364 of the penal code.

Emefiele has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

During cross-examination, Agulu said the transactions in question were unusual and did not follow Zenith Bank’s standard operating procedures.

He told the court he had been granted an oral waiver to process transactions due to what he described as a peculiar situation.

According to him, the oral waiver came from the head of operations of Zenith Bank, Macauly Ihekoronye.

Agulu admitted to having transferred more than ₦5 billion into the accounts of Ifeadigo and Kelvito Investment without following the usual due process.

It said the transfers were made outside normal banking hours.

The witness also said the instructions for the transactions came from Eric Ocheme, who was said to be Emefiele’s personal assistant.

Agulu further admitted that he deposited cash into customer accounts and wrote the narrative in a manner that suggested the deposits were made by the account owners.

He also acknowledged that the EFCC did not prosecute him, despite admitting that the transactions were processed outside normal banking procedures.

When confronted with Zenith Bank’s operational policy documents by the defense lawyer, Agulu argued that the transactions were handled that way due to the special circumstances of the time.

He also told the court that he had no physical contact with Emefiele during the disputed transactions.

The witness said in his statement to the EFCC, he did not claim that he handed over the payment receipts to the former CBN governor.

After concluding the cross-examination, Burkaa asked the court to take note of the witness’s behaviour.

He alleged that Agulu was unwilling and deliberately refused to answer some questions relating to his role in the disputed banking transactions.

The prosecution lawyer, Abbas Mohammed, opposed the request.

Mohammed argued that it was the court’s responsibility to determine whether a witness was withholding information or not.

Judge Yusuf Halilu subsequently adjourned the matter to November 3 for continuation of the trial.

The case remains one of the high-profile prosecutions involving the former CBN governor, with the court expected to continue hearing evidence on the disputed transactions and related allegations.