A prosecution witness on Monday told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama that $6.23 billion was allegedly siphoned from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the pretext of funding foreign observers for the 2023 general elections.
The witness, Chinedu Eneanya, gave the testimony before Justice Hamza Muazu in the ongoing trial of former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
This was disclosed in a statement shared on the official Facebook page of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Monday.
Emefiele is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on an amended 20-count charge bordering on alleged criminal breach of trust, forgery, abuse of office, and conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel Rotimi Oyedepo, Eneanya, who appeared as the 13th prosecution witness (PW13), told the court that he was part of the investigative team assigned to probe the allegations against the defendant.
According to him, investigations revealed that the sum of $6.23 billion was removed from the coffers of the apex bank, purportedly to fund foreign observers for Nigeria’s 2023 elections.
He added that individuals linked to the movement of the funds were invited and interviewed, while documents authorising the disbursement were recovered from the CBN.
Eneanya further testified that findings from the investigation indicated that the signatures of former President Muhammadu Buhari and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha were allegedly forged to facilitate the release of the funds.
He said forensic analysis confirmed that the signatures were not authentic.
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Under cross-examination by defence counsel Matthew Burkaa, the witness disclosed that five CBN officials who signed the internal memo relating to the transaction had been suspended by the bank.
Earlier, Burkaa urged the court to foreclose the prosecution’s case if it failed to present its remaining two witnesses at the next adjourned date, alleging a pattern of delay intended to frustrate the defence.
However, Oyedepo opposed the application, stating that the prosecution was not deliberately delaying proceedings but was facing challenges in securing the attendance of the remaining witnesses, said to be outside the court’s jurisdiction in Benin City and Lagos.
In his ruling, Justice Muazu directed both parties to reserve their arguments on the application until the stage of final written addresses.
He also instructed the prosecution to liaise with the court registrar to facilitate the issuance of subpoenas to compel the attendance of the outstanding witnesses.
The case was adjourned until April 28, 2026, for continuation of the trial.