A Director in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Dr Ali Mohammed, has testified before the FCT High Court in Abuja that former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele was not a signatory to the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Account. The account in question is where ₦124.86 billion was withdrawn. Mohammed, who is the Director of Home Finance at the Ministry of Finance, gave this evidence while being cross-examined by Emefiele’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN.
According to Dr Mohammed, official correspondence between the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation did not identify Emefiele as having authorised or directed the withdrawal of the funds. He stated that the Ministry of Finance did not write any letter to the CBN under Emefiele for the purpose of withdrawing the money, despite advice by the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The witness also told the court that neither the Minister of Finance nor the Accountant-General queried the withdrawal. He added that he was not aware of the public transactions that led the CBN to withdraw the money from the Consolidated Revenue Account. Furthermore, Mohammed stated that he was equally unaware that the ₦124.86 billion had been withdrawn for Hajj pilgrimage subsidy.
Dr Mohammed was invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in respect of the withdrawal of the ₦124.86 billion. However, he stated that he was neither interrogated on the circumstances that led to the withdrawal nor made any statement in respect of the same during his visit to the commission. He also disclosed that EFCC operatives did not show him any document implicating Emefiele in the withdrawal.
The witness narrated how the issue of the ₦124.86 billion withdrawal came to his attention following a letter from the special investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu to investigate the CBN under Emefiele. Mohammed summoned an emergency meeting of the heads of the three divisions under the Home Finance Unit of the ministry after receiving the letter. The heads of the divisions denied knowledge of the alleged withdrawal.
Mohammed wrote to the Accountant-General of the Federation through the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, seeking clarification on the transaction. The Office of the Accountant-General also denied knowledge of the withdrawal. The office subsequently concluded that the withdrawal of the ₦124.86 billion must have been carried out by the CBN. The findings were later communicated to the special investigator in response to the investigator’s request.
Emefiele is being prosecuted by the EFCC on a four-count charge bordering on alleged disobedience to the direction of law and an illegal act allegedly causing injury to the public. In the charge marked FCT/HC/CR/264/2024, the EFCC alleged that between October 19, 2022 and March 5, 2023, Emefiele disobeyed Section 19 of the CBN Act by approving the printing of 375.52 million pieces of colour-swapped ₦1,000 notes at a total cost of ₦11.052 billion.
Key points
- Dr Ali Mohammed testified that Godwin Emefiele was not a signatory to the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Account.
- The ₦124.86 billion withdrawal from the Consolidated Revenue Account was not traced to Emefiele’s personal account.
- Emefiele faces a four-count charge by the EFCC for alleged disobedience to the law and an illegal act causing injury to the public.
