The ongoing corruption trial involving the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, took a new turn on Thursday as an Ikeja Special Offences Court admitted WhatsApp messages as evidence in the alleged $4.5 billion fraud case.
Presiding Judge, Justice Rahman Oshodi, dismissed the objections raised by the defence team and ruled that the chat logs presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were admissible. The messages were marked as Exhibit G, alongside several mobile phones tendered as part of the evidence.
Emefiele faces a 19-count charge related to the receipt of gratification and abuse of office, while his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, is accused on three counts of unlawful acceptance of gifts by a public officer. The alleged financial misconduct involves transactions amounting to $4.5 billion and ₦2.8 billion.
During Thursday’s proceedings, Mr. Alvan Grumnaan, an EFCC investigator, continued his testimony, reading from the WhatsApp exchanges between Omoile and one John Adetola, which detailed the payment of $400,000 allegedly meant for “Oga,” referring to Emefiele.
Grumnaan recounted that Adetola confirmed visiting John Ikechukwu-Ayoh, a personal assistant to the CBN governor, in Lekki, Lagos, to deliver the funds. According to the investigator, further inquiries revealed another transaction where $200,000 was handed over to Emefiele through the same intermediary.
He added that a CBN contractor, Mr. Victor Oyedua, admitted giving Ikechukwu-Ayoh two separate payments of $400,000 and $200,000 as inducement to expedite outstanding payments from the apex bank.
The EFCC also submitted a letter dated February 24, 2024, and other CBN documents as evidence, which were admitted as Exhibit H despite objections from Emefiele’s defence team, led by Olalekan Ojo (SAN) and Kazeem Gbadamosi (SAN), who questioned their authenticity.
A mobile device belonging to Adetola, a Mi 10T phone, was also admitted as Exhibit I, containing the WhatsApp conversation analyzed by forensic experts.
The defence objected to the admission of certain statements, claiming they were obtained under duress. The court adjourned further hearings to November 21 for reports on the forensic inspection agreement and to December 2 for trial continuation.
