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John Ogah, the Secretary to the embattled former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, told a Lagos Special Offences Court, Ikeja, on Wednesday that his boss (Emefiele) instructed him to send an email to Ifeoma Ogbonna, the account officer of three companies, to send money to beneficiaries, including his niece, Hannah.
Ogah told the court that he sent messages via email to the account officers of three companies, namely: Comec, Limelight, and Amswin Resources Limited in Zenith Bank, to transfer some amount to certain beneficiaries.
The prosecution witness narrated this yesterday in his testimony before Justice Rahman Oshodi in the ongoing trial of Emefiele and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, over alleged abuse of office and money laundering.
He told the court that Emefiele used his niece Hannah Emefiele’s account to receive funds.
At the resumed proceedings, Ogah was led in evidence by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) counsel, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN). The witness said he acted on Emefiele’s instruction to send an email to Ogbonna, the account officer at Zenith Bank, to send money into Hannah’s account.
He said: “Hannah Emefiele is a niece of the first defendant. She is one of the beneficiaries of the fund because my boss gives letters of instruction through emails which I forward to the account officer.”
The witness was shown exhibit P series, 118, 123, and 125, wherein he read out email messages as instructed by his boss, Emefiele.
He said: “In one of the emails, he instructed Ogbonna to pay into the account of Hannah Emefiele while I was still working with him.”
The witness was, however, cross-examined by Emefiele’s counsel, Mr. Olalekan Ojo (SAN), who vehemently opposed the reading out of a document the witness was not the author of and the relevance of the name mentioned by the witness.
Ojo argued that Hannah’s name was not mentioned anywhere in the charge and contended that the prosecution imported the name in the course of giving evidence.
Oyedepo affirmed that though the defendant’s niece’s name was not mentioned in the charge, she was alleged to have benefitted from the proceeds.
He added: “The name came up because some of the proceeds that went into this account are traceable to some of the relatives of the first defendant.”
The witness confirmed to the court that Ogbonna was the account officer of Limelight, Comec, and Amswin Resources Limited.
He further spoke about several email messages which he told the court were given to him by Emefiele to send to Ogbonna, asking her to carry out various instructions on behalf of the three companies allegedly owned by the former governor.
While he was further cross-examined, the witness confirmed to the court that Emefiele and his wife, Margaret, were not shareholders of the three companies alleged to be owned by them.
He also told the court that he understood beneficial ownership of shares and that it is always in a documented form.
Ogah said that he did not produce any document indicating that Emefiele and his wife are shareholders of the three companies.
While being cross-examined by the second defence lead counsel, Mr. Kazeem Gbadamosi (SAN), the witness said that he is a director and a shareholder of a construction company, Ochochek-Tee.
He said: “The company has an account with Zenith Bank, but I am not a signatory to it. My name is not on the mandate form when the account was opened. I have two email accounts, one official and a private account.”
After listening to his testimony, Justice Oshodi adjourned the further trial to November 28, 2024.