Alleged property fraud: I never received money directly from Emefiele – Witness

A witness, Richard Agulu (a former Zenith Bank staff member), testified that he never received any money directly from the former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

Agulu, who now works at the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), was testifying as the third Prosecution Witness in the trial of Emefiele.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed an eight-count charge against the former CBN governor in respect of a disputed Abuja housing estate.

The said property located at Plot 109, Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja,  measures 150,462.86 SQM and comprises 753 housing units.

Agulu, being cross-examined by Matthew Burkaa,  Emefiele ‘s counsel, said:” I never received a dime directly from the defendant (Emefiele), I received the funds through his personal assistant,  Eric Ocheme.

” Is it correct to say that you never saw the defendant giving Eric money to give you? Yes, said the witness.

” I have never seen that, but he passes instructions through phone calls through Ocheme for me.

When asked to tell the court the defendant‘s phone number,  he said he did not have the phone number.

Agulu said he does not know how many times the transactions happened. He added that he made a statement at the EFCC   and does not remember how many times.

When asked if he clearly stated that he received instructions via phone in the statement he made to the EFCC, the witness replied, “What I can remember in my statement is that I get my instructions from the defendant through Ocheme”.
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Burkaa tendered  Agulu’s extrajudicial statement to the witness to “refresh his memory.”
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However, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Rotimi Oyedepo, prosecution counsel, objected, stating that the extra-judicial statement is only admissible if there is a contradiction and the application to refresh memory must come from a witness.
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He asked the judge not to reject the document but to delay its admission.

Burkaa reacted, saying, “The prosecution cannot be arguing its own documents since it was filed among the proof of evidence.”

Following arguments by the counsels concerning the admissibility of the document, the DPP withdrew the objection.
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The judge admitted the extra-judicial statement and marked it as Exhibit G.

Burkaa asked the witness to peruse the document and read out where the defendant spoke to by phone.
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The witness replied, “I can not see anywhere I said phone, but I said it by his instructions.”
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Justice then adjourned the case until 22 April for the continuation of cross-examination.
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Earlier, the witness stated that the owners of Kelvito Integrated Services, Chukwuma Okpala and Ifeadigo Integrated Services, Peter Adebayo, authenticated the transactions he referred to in his earlier testimony in January.
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“It was with their instructions that the transaction was effected by the bank,” and the instructions were carried out by banking instruments, cheques.
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“The defendant gives instructions to me through his personal assistant (Eric).”
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Agulu stated that the instructions through  Ocheme were the banking instrument he worked on to carry out the transactions.
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He said the instructions are through cheques, not letters,  email, or text.

He noted that from the CBN’s guidelines and operational manual policies of Zenith Bank, a staff member was only permitted to honour the instructions of an account holder either by formal communication, cheques, or the customer being present at the bank.
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However, neither Emefiele nor Ocheme was the account holder. But the witness stated that because they were not the account holders, he included the owners’ names in the deposit slip anytime he deposited cash into their accounts.
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He also disclosed his personal relationship with Adebayo; “We were friends,” he said.
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Burkaa tendered the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) status report of Rites Impex Project Limited, but Oyedepo objected to its admissibility on two grounds.
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He said there was no compliance with Section 85 of the Evidence Act, and it is not a certified true copy, and there was no aspect with regard to payment.
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Burkaa withdrew the document but noted that Remita would be attached to the document and subsequently tendered.
He also tendered the summaries of operational policies of Zenith Bank.
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Oyedepo objected that he was not served with a copy of the document. Also, the document could not be tendered in through the witness, since he was no longer a staff member of Zenith Bank.
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Justice Yusuf Halilu admitted the documents  but urged the parties to “re-echo their arguments in their final written address.”
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The witness admitted that he deposited the money and wrote the names of Messrs Okpala and Adebayo as depositors.

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