Emefiele: EFCC rejects claim of forced statements

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday dismissed allegations that statements made by Henry Omoile, co-defendant in the ongoing $4.5 billion fraud trial involving former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele, were extracted under duress.

At the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, the trial of Emefiele and Omoile resumed, with a prosecution witness affirming that Omoile’s statements to investigators were voluntary.

Emefiele faces a 19-count charge relating to corruption, gratification, and unlawful demands during his tenure as CBN Governor, while Omoile is answering to a three-count charge of unlawful acceptance of gifts. Both men have pleaded not guilty.

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During the resumed hearing, EFCC operative Alvan Gurumnaan told Justice Rahman Oshodi that Omoile’s statements were given voluntarily. “Our officers do not force statements through violence or intimidation. The second defendant did not make any statement under duress. He even came with his lawyer and the acting MD of NIBSS,” Gurumnaan said during a trial-within-trial to determine the admissibility of the statements.

Gurumnaan explained that Omoile’s statements were taken at the EFCC Lagos Zonal Directorate conference room on February 26 and 27, 2024, and were signed in the presence of his lawyer, E.N. Offiong, whose name appeared in the EFCC visitors’ register submitted as evidence. Under cross-examination, the witness admitted that the sessions were not video-recorded, stating that “certain circumstances sometimes make video recordings impossible.”

Justice Oshodi admitted four statements as exhibits and adjourned the trial-within-trial to January 15 and 16, 2026.

In a separate operation, EFCC operatives in the Benin Zonal Directorate arrested Ndubisi Iheukwumere, 64, for allegedly collaborating with a woman, Salt Adaeze Udoka, currently at large, to defraud a victim of ₦165 million. Iheukwumere reportedly collected the money in two tranches under the pretense of selling a 100-acre property in Ewulu Kingdom, Delta State. Investigations revealed the land did not belong to him, and he had impersonated the rightful owners to obtain the funds. He has confessed to the crime and will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations.

Meanwhile, at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the EFCC presented its fourth witness in the trial of Akindele Akintoye, Platforms Capital Investment Partners Limited, and Duport Midstream Company Limited over the alleged diversion of $35 million belonging to the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

Isaac Yalah, former Director of Finance and Personnel at NCDMB, told Justice Ekerete Akpan that the defendants failed to provide official reports confirming the execution of the first two project milestones, valued at $21.55 million. The funds were disbursed into the operational account of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited in December 2020 and January 2021, based on a milestone schedule submitted by the defendants. A second tranche of $13.45 million was transferred on the verbal instruction of the then Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.

Yalah said some evidence of work—including renovations to a health centre, water system, and preliminary refinery work—was presented during internal board meetings, but no comprehensive accountability report was submitted. “The project was supposed to be completed within four months from the disbursement of funds. It has not been completed up to now,” he said, adding that he was not a signatory to the operational account allegedly used for the diversion.

The case was adjourned to December 3, 2025, for continuation of cross-examination.

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