A prosecution witness on Monday told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, that $6.23 billion was allegedly withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) during the tenure of former governor, Godwin Emefiele, under the guise of funding foreign election observers for the 2023 general elections.
The witness, Chinedu Eneanya, gave his testimony before Justice Hamza Muazu as part of the ongoing trial of Emefiele, who is facing a 20-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The charges include alleged criminal breach of trust, forgery, abuse of office, conspiracy, and obtaining money by false pretence.
Eneanya, appearing as the 13th prosecution witness, told the court he was part of the investigative team assigned to probe the allegations. Led in evidence by EFCC counsel Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), he stated that investigations revealed the funds were removed from the CBN’s vaults under the pretext of settling expenses for foreign election monitors invited for the polls.
He further disclosed that several individuals connected to the transaction were invited for questioning, while key documents authorising the release of the funds were recovered from the apex bank.
According to the witness, investigators discovered that the signatures attributed to former President Muhammadu Buhari and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, on the approval documents were forged. He added that forensic analysis confirmed the signatures were not genuine.
During cross-examination, defence counsel Matthew Burkaa (SAN) was told that five CBN officials who endorsed the internal memo tied to the transaction have since been suspended.
Earlier, the defence urged the court to close the prosecution’s case if it failed to present its remaining two witnesses at the next hearing, accusing the prosecution of delaying the trial. However, the prosecution opposed the request, explaining that the outstanding witnesses are currently outside the court’s jurisdiction, residing in Benin City and Lagos.
Justice Muazu directed both parties to reserve arguments on the application until the final stage of the trial. He also instructed the prosecution to liaise with the court registrar to issue subpoenas for the remaining witnesses.
The case was adjourned to April 28, 2026, for continuation of hearing.
