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A Director in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Dr Ali Mohammed, has told the FCT High Court in Abuja that former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele was not a signatory to the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Account from which ₦124.86 billion was withdrawn.
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Mohammed said official correspondence between the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation did not identify Emefiele as having authorised or directed the withdrawal of the funds.
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The witness also told the court that neither the Minister of Finance nor the Accountant-General queried the withdrawal, while he was unaware that the money was allegedly connected to the Hajj pilgrimage subsidy.
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Emefiele is facing a four-count EFCC charge over alleged disobedience to the law and an illegal act causing injury to the public, including allegations surrounding the approval and printing of redesigned ₦1,000 notes.
October 8, (THEWILL) – A Director in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Dr Ali Mohammed, on Wednesday, told the FCT High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, that former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, was not a signatory to the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Account from which ₦124.86 billion was withdrawn.
Mohammed, who is the Director of Home Finance at the Ministry of Finance, gave the evidence while being cross-examined by Emefiele’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, in the ongoing trial of the former CBN governor.
The witness said the ₦124.86 billion withdrawn from the Federal Government’s account was neither traced to Emefiele’s personal account nor was the former CBN governor a signatory to the Consolidated Revenue Account.
He also said none of the three letters exchanged between the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation in relation to the transaction identified Emefiele as a signatory to the account.
“Of the three letters that emanated from the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General, none of the letters suggested the name of Emefiele as a signatory to the consolidated revenue account”, Mohammed told the court.
He further said the letters did not indicate that Emefiele authorised the debiting of the ₦124.86 billion from the Federal Government account.
According to him, the Ministry of Finance did not write any letter to the CBN under Emefiele for the purpose of withdrawing the money, despite advice by the Accountant-General of the Federation.
Mohammed said neither the Minister of Finance nor the Accountant-General of the Federation queried the withdrawal. He also told the court that he was not aware of the public transactions that led the CBN to withdraw the money from the Consolidated Revenue Account.
The witness said he was equally unaware that the ₦124.86 billion had been withdrawn for Hajj pilgrimage subsidy.
“I was invited by EFCC in respect of the withdrawal of the ₦124.86 billion, but was neither interrogated on the circumstances that led to the withdrawal nor made any statement in respect of the same during my visit to the commission”, he stated.
Mohammed further told the court that EFCC operatives did not show him any document implicating Emefiele in the withdrawal.
He said the Ministry of Finance did not take any action on the withdrawn funds apart from informing the special investigator appointed to probe the CBN that it was not aware of the transaction.
The witness also disclosed that he had no personal interaction with the special investigator who examined the activities of the CBN under Emefiele.
How ₦124.86bn Withdrawal Emerged
Earlier in his evidence, Mohammed narrated how the issue of the ₦124.86 billion withdrawal came to his attention following a letter from the special investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu to investigate the CBN under Emefiele.
Mohammed, who said he supervised three divisions under the Home Finance Unit of the ministry, told the court that he summoned an emergency meeting of the heads of the three divisions after receiving the letter.
According to him, the heads of the divisions denied knowledge of the alleged withdrawal.
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Following their denial, he said he wrote to the Accountant-General of the Federation through the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, seeking clarification on the transaction.
Mohammed said the Office of the Accountant-General also denied knowledge of the withdrawal. He added that the office subsequently concluded that the withdrawal of the ₦124.86 billion must have been carried out by the CBN.
The findings were later communicated to the special investigator in response to the investigator’s request, he said.
Mohammed subsequently tendered the relevant letters from the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General before the court.
The documents were admitted as exhibits after Emefiele’s counsel raised no objection.
Emefiele’s Four-Count Charge
Emefiele is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a four-count charge bordering on alleged disobedience to the direction of law and an illegal act allegedly causing injury to the public.
In the charge marked FCT/HC/CR/264/2024, the EFCC alleged that between October 19, 2022 and March 5, 2023, Emefiele disobeyed Section 19 of the CBN Act by approving the printing of 375.52 million pieces of colour-swapped ₦1,000 notes at a total cost of ₦11.052 billion.
The anti-graft agency alleged that the approval was made without the recommendation of the CBN Board and the required approval of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The EFCC said the alleged offence contravened Section 123 of the Penal Code, Cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990, and was punishable under the same law.
Emefiele has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
During Wednesday’s proceedings, Mohammed was also asked about the Ways and Means policy operated between 2016 and 2023.
He told the court that he was not aware that late President Muhammadu Buhari obtained approval from the National Assembly for the use of the Ways and Means policy during the period.
At the end of the cross-examination, prosecution counsel, Abbas Mohammed, asked the court to discharge the witness and adjourn the matter.
Justice Maryanne Anenih subsequently adjourned the case until November 26 for continuation of the trial.
Background
The case is part of the legal proceedings arising from investigations into the activities and financial decisions of the CBN during Emefiele’s tenure as governor.
Emefiele, who headed the apex bank from 2014 until his suspension in 2023, has faced several allegations relating to the management of the bank and the controversial naira redesign policy introduced towards the end of his tenure.
The present four-count charge focuses, among other allegations, on the approval for the printing of redesigned ₦1,000 notes and whether the required statutory and presidential approvals were obtained.
The ₦124.86 billion transaction also became part of the investigation into the CBN following the appointment of a special investigator by President Tinubu to examine the affairs of the apex bank under Emefiele.
Wednesday’s testimony centred on whether Emefiele could be linked through official records to the withdrawal of the funds.
The Ministry of Finance official told the court that the correspondence examined by him did not identify Emefiele as a signatory to the Federal Government account or as the person who authorised the debit.
The testimony is now part of the evidence before the court as the prosecution continues to present its case against the former CBN governor.
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