‎COURT ADMITS MORE DOCUMENTS AS EXHIBITS IN $4.5BN FRAUD TRIAL OF FORMER CBN GOVERNOR EMEFIELE

By Aishat Momoh. O.

The Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja on Wednesday, October 9, 2025, presided over by Justice Rahman Oshodi, admitted additional documents as exhibits in the ongoing $4.5 billion fraud trial involving former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile.

‎In the first ruling on Thursday, Justice Oshodi, admitted a bundle of documents extracted from the mobile phone of the former Executive Assistant of the first defendant Godwin Emefiele, John Adetola, during the EFCC’s investigation.

The court overruled objections raised by the defence counsels and admitted several key documents, including WhatsApp conversations and official letters, as exhibits G and H.

‎During the proceedings, prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, continued the testimony of Alvan Gurumnaan, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), who provided fresh details on alleged cash transactions involving the defendants.

‎Gurumnaan told the court that WhatsApp messages between Henry and John Adetola revealed instructions to deliver $400,000 to “Oga,” a reference allegedly linked to the first defendant. He further testified that Adetola confirmed delivering the money to Emefiele’s personal assistant at Lekki and later to the former CBN Governor at the bank’s Lagos office.

The EFCC witness also disclosed that another transaction involving $200,000, was handed over by Adetola directly to Emefiele.

He further stated that a CBN contractor, Victor Onyejuwa, was said to have confirmed during interrogation that he gave both sums $400,000 and $200,000 to facilitate payments on pending contracts.

Prosecution further tendered additional documents, including a letter dated February 24, 2024, which the court admitted as Exhibit H after overruling defence objections on certification grounds. Adetola’s mobile phone, a MI10T, was also tendered and admitted as Exhibit I.

‎Further WhatsApp conversations retrieved from the phone were analyzed in court as part of the EFCC’s evidence.

The prosecuting witness, Oyedepo, however, sought to tender statements allegedly made by the defendants during interrogation.

Defence counsels, led by Olalekan Ojo, SAN, and Kazeem Gbadamosi, SAN, objected to the admissibility of the statements, claiming they were not voluntarily made.

Justice Oshodi consequently ordered a trial-within-trial to determine the voluntariness of the statements and fixed November 21, 2025, for a forensic inspection report.

The case was however, adjourned to December 2 and 3, 2025, for the continuation of the mini trial with an order that the defendants be present throughout.