Alleged $4.5bn fraud: Court reserves ruling on Emefiele’s statements until July 9

By Henry Ojelu

LAGOS—Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Friday reserved ruling till July 9 on the admissibility of extra-judicial statements allegedly made by former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, in his ongoing alleged $4.5 billion fraud trial.

The court fixed the date after listening to arguments by both the prosecution and defence on whether the statements sought to be tendered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, were voluntarily made.

Emefiele is standing trial alongside his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, on a 19-count charge bordering on alleged gratification and corrupt demands while he served as CBN Governor.

Omoile is separately facing a three-count charge relating to the alleged unlawful acceptance of gifts by an agent.

Both defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

At the resumed hearing, counsel to Emefiele, Mr. Olalekan Ojo, SAN, objected to the admissibility of the statements, arguing that they were not voluntarily made.

He contended that the statements were procured through oppression, physical and psychological torture while his client was allegedly detained by the Department of State Services, DSS, for more than 157 days.

Citing provisions of the Anti-Torture Act, 2017, and the Evidence Act, Ojo maintained that the statements were involuntary and therefore inadmissible.

According to him, the central issue before the court was whether the statements credited to the former CBN governor were made voluntarily.

He argued that where the voluntariness of a statement is challenged, video recordings of the interrogation process remain the most credible means of proving compliance with due process.

Ojo further submitted that the absence of such recordings cast doubt on the reliability of the statements. He also faulted the prosecution for allegedly failing to provide independent evidence in support of the statements and questioned the role of the lawyer said to have witnessed the interviews.

The defence urged the court to reject the statements, insisting that any doubt regarding their voluntariness should be resolved in favour of the defendant.

Responding, the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, who appeared with Bilikisu Buhari and C.C. Okezie, called the prosecution’s eighth witness, EFCC investigator Alvan Gurumnaan.

Under examination, the witness told the court that Emefiele was invited for questioning and that all interviews were conducted in the presence of his legal representative.

He disclosed that the prosecution had voluntarily withdrawn a statement dated October 26, 2023, but sought to tender statements allegedly made on October 27, October 30, November 1 and November 2, 2023.

“If the defence does not want that statement, we are prepared to withdraw it. We are withdrawing it not because it was obtained through torture or oppression,” the witness said.

Oyedepo argued that there was no basis for a trial-within-trial, maintaining that none of the statements sought to be tendered amounted to a confession.

According to him, nothing contained in the statements could be interpreted as an admission of the facts in issue.

He further submitted that the Anti-Torture Act did not make a trial-within-trial mandatory in the circumstances and urged the court to dismiss the defence objection and allow the substantive trial to proceed.

Meanwhile, counsel to the second defendant, Mr. Adeyinka Kotoye, SAN, informed the court of a pending application seeking leave to appeal an earlier ruling.

The prosecution did not oppose the application, following which Justice Oshodi granted the request.

“I hereby grant the second defendant leave to appeal the ruling of the court,” the judge held.

Thereafter, Justice Oshodi adjourned the case till July 9, 2026, for ruling on the admissibility of the disputed statements.

The court also scheduled October 6, 7 and 8, as well as November 11, 12 and 13, 2026, for the continuation of the substantive trial.

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