A witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday told the Lagos Special Offences Court that $17.1 million was delivered in cash to former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, over a three-year period through one of his close aides.
Testifying before Justice Rahman Oshodi, EFCC investigator and Assistant Commandant, Alvan Gurumnaan, said the funds were handed over to Mr. Monday Osazuwa, who reportedly delivered them to Emefiele at his Ikoyi residence in Lagos.
According to Gurumnaan, the money was received in tranches between September 2020 and June 2023 from a businessman based in Victoria Island, Lagos. He added that portions of the cash were also delivered to Emefiele’s co-defendant, Henry Omoile, on the ex-CBN governor’s instruction.
“The total money given was $17,100,000. Mr Osazuwa collected these sums in various tranches and delivered them to Mr Godwin Emefiele,” Gurumnaan stated.
The revelations are part of an ongoing investigation into alleged procurement fraud and abuse of office during Emefiele’s tenure as head of Nigeria’s apex bank. Gurumnaan said the EFCC probe followed intelligence reports and involved requests for records and interviews with several CBN departments, including Financial Markets, Legal, Currency Operations, Banking Supervision, Human Resources, and Trade and Exchange.
He also identified Eric Odoh, Emefiele’s former personal assistant, as a key figure in the case. However, Odoh has remained unreachable.
“He absconded and was traced to the UK, Canada, and other countries, but we have not been able to locate him,” Gurumnaan said.
Another witness, Mr. John Adetola, who served as Emefiele’s executive assistant, told the court he once received $400,000 in 2018 from one Mr. John Ayoh, acting on WhatsApp instructions from Odoh. However, during cross-examination by defence counsel Olalekan Ojo (SAN), Adetola admitted that he had no documented evidence to support the claim.
Adetola confirmed he spent 11 days in EFCC custody but was never confronted with either Emefiele or Ayoh and is not under prosecution nor promised immunity for his cooperation.
Emefiele and Omoile are facing a 26-count charge bordering on abuse of office and fraudulent transactions involving $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion.
The court adjourned the case to October 7, 8, and 9, 2025, for continuation of trial.
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