Emefiele received $17.1m cash through proxy in three years, EFCC investigator tells court

An operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told a Lagos court that Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), allegedly received $17.1 million in cash through a proxy in three years.

Alvan Gurumnaan, who testified on Tuesday before Rahman Oshodi, judge of the special offences court in Ikeja, said the funds were delivered between 2020 and 2023 and handed to Henry Omoile, Emefiele’s associate, at the ex-CBN governor’s residence in Ikoyi.

Emefiele and Omoile are facing a 19-count charge bordering on corrupt demands and gratification to the tune of $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion.

Led in evidence by Rotimi Oyedepo, EFCC counsel, Gurumnaan said the money trail was uncovered through statements made by Monday Osazuwa, a dispatch rider who previously testified as the prosecution’s first witness.

“The personal errands Osazuwa ran for Emefiele, according to him, was when he received a call from Emefiele, who then sent him a phone number and asked him to call Mohit who was in London and after he called Mohit, Mohit gave him the contact of an individual,” the witness narrated.

“Osazuwa met the individual from September 2020 to 2023, and received monies in dollars on behalf of Emefiele — a total of $17,100,000.

“Upon receiving the sums Osazuwa went to Emefiele’s house at Ikoyi and handed over the money to the second defendant, Henry Omoile, as instructed by the first defendant.”

He added that most of the transactions occurred on Fridays. 

The EFCC operative told the court that analysis of the proxy’s phone revealed WhatsApp messages linked to the transactions.

He said permission was obtained before accessing the device and printing out the messages which had been sent to the email of a colleague named Musa Idi. 

ERIC UDOH

Gurumnaan, a member of the EFCC’s Special Investigation Department since 2008, told the court that the commission had received several petitions alleging abuse of office and illicit financial dealings by Emefiele.

He stated that the commission wrote to several institutions, including the CBN, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the Department of Legal Services, and the Financial Market Dealers Quotations, to request relevant documents.

“After collating the documents, we invited officials from those departments. Some were delayed, while others were released on bail,” he said.

He added that Osazuwa and other individuals close to Emefiele — including John Adetola and John Ogah — were interviewed during the investigation.

“One of the names that featured predominantly was Eric Udoh. We made frantic efforts to bring him but we couldn’t,” the witness said.

“There is a report tracing him to Dominican Republic, Canada, United Kingdom.

“As an effort to bring him to answer questions, we contacted Interpol and have placed him on red. He is now wanted all over the world.”

The case has been adjourned to October 7 and 8, 2025, for continuation of trial.