By Idriss LAWAL
A banker, Richard Agulu, appearing as Prosecution Witness, in the trial of the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, has recounted how he deposited billions of Naira for the defendant.
The told witnessed bought in by EFCC told Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court, Maitama, Abuja, that while he worked in Zenith Bank, he banked billions of naira in cash for Emefiele brought by his personal assistant, Eric Ocheme.
The witness, a former staffer of Zenith Bank disclosed under cross-examination by defence counsel, Mathew Burkaa, SAN that he would usually lodge the sums in the accounts of Ifeabigo Integrated Services and Kelvito Integrated Services or deposit them in Zenith Bank’s vault, all on Emefiele’s instruction.
He further told the court that while he was with Zenith Bank, he was under Emefiele’s instructions, to receive cash from Ocheme and disburse them according to his instruction. Emefiele, he said, would usually convey the instructions to him through Ocheme’s phone.
The witness, who stated that he worked in the banking sector for 17 years, disclosed that the withdrawals made from the deposits he made for Emefiele into Ifeabigo Integrated Services and Kelvito Integrated Services accounts were authenticated by the real account owners and signatories, adding that he had verbal waivers from his superiors to attend to the transactions of the defendant.
“My lord, for every transaction, I followed normal banking transaction procedures. I followed the steps for cash deposition but there are different scenarios for different transactions. There are waivers for some certain customers who can bring cash into the bank. I was not given a written approval but I was given a waiver to attend to the transaction of the defendant which was verbal from my superiors. I cannot mention names. I don’t want to put somebody in trouble,” he said.
