A witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has admitted not interviewing a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, during their investigation of procurement fraud allegations.
The witness, David Jaiyeoba, who is the 12th Prosecution Witness (PW12), admitted this Monday during cross-examination by Emefiele’s lawyer, Mr. Mathew Burkaa, SAN.
Emefiele is standing trial on an amended 20-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust, forgery, abuse of office, conspiracy to obtain by false pretence, and obtaining money by false pretence while serving as CBN Governor.
The EFCC, in the charge marked:
FCT/HC/CR/577/2023, alleged that the former CBN Governor knowingly obtained by false pretence the sum of $6,230,000 purportedly meant for international election observers for the 2023 general election.
Besides, the anti-graft agency is also claiming that Emefiele conferred corrupt advantages on two companies—April 1616 Nigeria Ltd and ArchitekonNigeria Ltd in the award of contracts.
He, however, denied all the counts preferred against him in the charge.
Answering questions from Emefiele’s lawyer at Monday’s proceedings, Jaiyeoba told Justice Hamza Muazu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that he did not personally interview Emefiele, but his team did.
According to him, the findings of the EFCC were based on documents and statements of suspects who were arrested during the course of the investigation.
“My evidence never mentioned April 1616. However, the defendant is not a signatory to the account of April 1616. I cannot remember if he is a director or shareholder,” he said.
He added that the defendant was neither a signatory, director, nor shareholder of Archiketon Nigeria Limited.
He admitted he had not visited the CBN Governor’s residence, the specific Archiketon renovation site alleged in the case, nor any other project locations.
The witness told the court that their findings on the renovation projects were based on statements provided by the company’s director.
Jaiyeoba also noted that he was aware of the committee in the CBN that vets and handles the bidding process of contracts, but could not recall the name.
He said he did not interview the officers involved.
“My team did, but personally, I was not part of that interview because the team had to be divided.
“One operated within Lagos while the others operated in Abuja.
“The Abuja team interacted with these officials due to proximity and distance,” he explained.
When asked if Emeifele was a member of the Major Contract Tender Committee that handled the procurement process, he replied: “I cannot remember.”
The witness was also questioned on the properties he had mentioned in the last proceedings. Burkaa asked if he was aware that the Court of Appeal had overturned the forfeiture order for the properties and presented him with the judgment.
Responding, Jaiyeoba told the court that he was seeing the judgment for the first time, but affirmed that while the defendant contested the forfeiture order, he never made a claim to $2 million (part of the items listed for forfeiture) as his property.
In June 2025, the Court of Appeal in Lagos overturned the forfeiture order and directed a fresh hearing by the lower court.
Jaiyeoba then acknowledged that the EFCC was bound by the Court of Appeal’s decision.
When asked why he tendered the Code of Conduct forms of the defendant, the witness noted that he was not aware of the judgment.
During the last proceeding, the witness said the investigations followed a report sent to the EFCC by the Inter-Agency Task Force, headed by the State Security Service (SSS).
On Burkaa requested that the report be brought to court, EFCC’s lawyer, A.O. Mohammed, did not object to the request.
Emefiele’s statement was taken 73 days after the case was filed.
Earlier in March, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), had tendered Emefiele’s extrajudicial statement through the witness.
Burkaa highlighted that the statements were written from October 26 to November 2, 2023, but EFCC filed their charges against Emefiele on August 14, 2023.
“So you took the statements 73 days after filing the charges, you were still investigating the charges?”
The witness replied, “I am not aware of these dates.”
Similarly, Burkaa asked if the defendant was confronted with Nweke’s statement to seek his reaction; the witness stated that they did not.
Meanwhile, the trial continues Tuesday, 17th March.
Alex Enumah
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