A witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Agboro Omowera, on Monday, told a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama that 10 officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria, including the former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, minuted on the documents for the award of multi-million contracts to April 1616 and Architekon Nigeria Limited.
The EFCC accused Emefiele of using his position to confer a corrupt advantage on his wife, Margret, and brother-in-law by approving the payment of the total sum of N97.9m in favour of Architekon Nigeria Ltd, where both are directors.
According to the anti-graft agency, the N97.9m contract was for the supply of office furniture to the CBN.
The investigator, who is the seventh prosecution witness, while being cross-examined by the defendant’s counsel, Mathew Burkaa(SAN), stated that 10 persons acted on the documents with which the contracts were awarded.
He added that the buck stopped at Emefiele’s table, being the CBN governor at the time.
He said, “Ten persons acted on the documents awarding these contracts.
“There are 10 minutes and one approval, so one person takes the responsibility.
“He (Emefiele) is the head of the CBN and the buck stops at his table.”
When Burkaa asked the witness if Emefiele conferred a corrupt advantage on himself, he said, “No. Why I said no is because we limited our investigation to his relatives and associates and not him.”
Earlier, Omowera while being led in evidence by the counsel for the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), told the court that the findings of his investigations showed that Emefiele conferred a corrupt and unfair advantage on Architekon Nigeria Limited and April 1616.
According to him, Emefiele’s wife, Margaret Omoyile, is listed as a director of Archtekon Nigeria Limited.
He added that Emefiele’s wife used her maiden name to register the company.
Omowera said a staff of the CBN, Sa`adatu Yaro, was also listed as a director of April 1616 Investment Ltd.
According to him, the company was awarded several contracts for the supply of over 45 Toyota Hilux vehicles, ranging from N854,700,000 to N99,900,000.
He added that his investigative team, comprising different agencies, including the Department of State Services, also found out that Yaro’s husband had other companies but they were not patronised by the CBN except the one in which the wife was a director.
Omowera said, “In the second company, April 1616 Investment Limited, we also discovered that one of the directors of that company by name, Sahadatu Ramalan Yaro, was a director of April 1616 Investment.
“We discovered that the company was incorporated a few days after her employment with the CBN and she was posted to CBN Lagos office.
“In 2018, the company started to enjoy the patronage of the CBN in the procurement of particular vehicles, Toyota branded motors.
“During the period that the defendant was, this company was awarded about 45 different contracts
“My Lord, we were curious as investigators, how it was possible for a company that has no track record to continually win bids against Toyota-accredited bids.
“We tried to confirm whether this company was accredited by Toyota and to our surprise, it was not among the accredited bidders.”
The trial judge, Hamza Muazu subsequently adjourned the matter till April 25 for the continuation of the trial.
“Apples Bite” reports that on February 10, the EFCC declared Emefeile’s wife and three others wanted for allegedly conspiring with the former CBN governor to steal huge sums of money belonging to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.