How I delivered $400,000 cash to Emefiele – Ex-aide

Emefiele

A prosecution witness, John Adetola, on Monday told the Lagos Special Offences Court in Ikeja that he did not document the delivery of $400,000 in cash to the embattled former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.

Adetola, the seventh prosecution witness, who served as executive assistant to Emefiele, said he provided no call logs, messages, or receipt to support his claim during the investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Emefiele and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, are facing 19 counts bordering on alleged bribery and corrupt demands totalling $4.5bn and ₦2.8bn, brought by the EFCC.

Testifying before Justice Rahman Oshodi, Adetola said he acted on instructions from Eric Odoh, who allegedly asked him via WhatsApp in 2018 to collect the money from former CBN Director of Information Technology, Mr. John Ayoh, and hand it to Emefiele in Lagos.

“In 2018, I can’t remember the date, Mr. Eric Odoh sent me a WhatsApp message that I should collect $400,000 from John Ayoh and give it to the former CBN Governor when he came to Lagos. I went to Ayoh’s house in Lekki, collected an envelope, and gave it to the governor,” Adetola told the court.

When asked why he did not document the transaction or provide any proof, he said“I did not see any need for it.”

Under cross-examination by Emefiele’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), Adetola confirmed that he was not under prosecution and had not struck any immunity deal with the EFCC.

He also admitted that in his statement to the EFCC, he did not mention any communication with Emefiele about the $400,000.

“I told the EFCC everything I knew in respect of the alleged financial crimes,” he said.

Adetola further revealed that he spent 11 days in EFCC custody, during which he was not brought face-to-face with either Emefiele or John Ayoh.