The trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, continued on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, before Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama, Abuja, with detailed testimony alleging large-scale cash movements and bank transfers linked to the former apex bank chief.
Emefiele is standing trial on an eight-count charge brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), bordering on criminal breach of trust, conspiracy, forgery and unlawful possession of properties suspected to be proceeds of crime amounting to ₦7.83 billion.
Testifying as Prosecution Witness 3 (PW3), Richard Agulu, a former Zenith Bank employee now with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), told the court that while working at Zenith Bank, he allegedly received and disbursed substantial sums of cash on the instructions of Emefiele, conveyed through the former CBN governor’s personal assistant, Eric Ocheme.
Led in evidence by Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, Agulu said he worked at Zenith Bank between 2007 and 2023, serving at several branches including Maitama, Abuja. He recalled that Emefiele, who later became CBN governor in 2014, frequently visited Zenith Bank branches while he was Managing Director of the bank.
According to the witness, Ocheme, then a Zenith Bank staff before moving to the CBN, routinely acted on Emefiele’s behalf. “On the defendant’s instruction, I used to receive cash from Eric and disburse same when needed,” Agulu testified, adding that the funds were either stored in the bank’s vault or deposited into accounts not belonging to Emefiele personally.
PW3 identified several exhibits tendered by the prosecution, including bank accounts belonging to Ifeabigo Integrated Services and Kelvito Integrated Services. He said the Ifeabigo account belonged to a friend, Peters Adebayo, and was used between 2020 and 2022 to lodge funds allegedly received on Emefiele’s behalf.
Agulu proceeded to give a detailed breakdown of numerous cash deposits and transfers running into hundreds of millions of naira, particularly between February and August 2021. He told the court that on August 25, 2021 alone, multiple deposits were made into the Ifeabigo account, after which he allegedly transferred ₦600 million and ₦300 million to MG Properties Limited on Emefiele’s instruction through Ocheme.
He further testified that an additional ₦700 million was transferred from the Kelvito Integrated Services account to the same company on the same day, bringing the total transfers to MG Properties Limited to ₦1.6 billion.
“I transferred a total sum of ₦1.6 billion to MG Properties Limited on the defendant’s instruction through Mr. Eric,” the witness told the court, adding that he did not know the purpose of the transfers at the time.
Agulu also described structured cash withdrawals and further deposits continuing into early 2022, all of which he said were carried out on instructions allegedly linked to Emefiele. He confirmed that he was later invited by the EFCC and questioned over the transactions, during which he maintained that he acted on instructions passed through Ocheme.
Under cross-examination, PW3 acknowledged that withdrawals could only be authorised by account holders or signatories, noting that the relevant mandates were duly authenticated by the account owners.
Earlier, the prosecution called Prosecution Witness 2 (PW2), Olomotam Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank, who testified on the bank’s response to an EFCC request concerning the account of Ace Frozen Foods Ventures.
Egoro told the court that Access Bank supplied account details, mandates and statements to the EFCC in June 2025. He confirmed under cross-examination that Emefiele’s name did not appear in any of the documents and that the account signatories were Kamaru Lasisi and Raphael Ibhafidon Uguomore.
Justice Halilu adjourned the matter to February 16, 2026, for continuation of trial and further cross-examination.
