One of the special dollar accounts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had a negative balance of N2.858bn after the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of $6.2m from the apex bank, a prosecution witness, Jim Obazee, told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja on Friday.
Obazee, who appeared as the 15th prosecution witness, testified in the trial of former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele before Justice Hamza Muazu.
Emefiele is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on an amended 20-count charge of alleged conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, forgery, obtaining by false pretence and conferment of corrupt advantages to the tune of $6.23m.
The money, according to Obazee, who was led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), was allegedly released from the CBN Abuja branch on February 3, 2023, as funds meant for foreign election observer logistics during the 2023 general election.
He said the withdrawal was made without naira cover as required for dollar transactions which had pushed the account into a negative balance of N2,858,150,196.42.
He said the development should have been noticed by Emefiele and the bank’s chief accounting officer.
“You can’t leave the bank until you balance the account,” he said.
The witness said the transaction did not leave the bank with proper documentation for the receiving officer.
There was no evidence, Obazee told the court, that the funds got to foreign election observers or had any economic benefit for the Federal Government or the CBN.
“The money actually was taken but didn’t go to the intended beneficiaries,” he said.
His team began its probe by examining internal control deficiencies at the apex bank and conducting interviews with internal audit officials, he said.
According to him, a letter from former President Muhammadu Buhari to the then Secretary to the Government (SGF) of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, authorised the release of funds for election observer logistics.
He said a subsequent letter from Mustapha to Emefiele introduced one Jibril Abubakar as the person authorised to collect the money.
The witness also said the CBN’s Bank Verification Number (BVN) portal was down for more than a month before the withdrawal, so it was not possible to authenticate the identity of the person who collected the money.
He further alleged that the CBN official who received and processed the payment documents was redeployed to the governor’s office 56 days after the transaction without following normal procedure.
Obazee said that part of the money was recovered from one Bashir Maishanu, who reportedly confessed to the crime and handed $856,500 to the special investigation team.
He said Maishanu should be prosecuted with Emefiele.
During cross-examination by Emefiele’s counsel, Matthew Burkaa (SAN), Obazee conceded that criminal charges had already been filed against Emefiele in September 2023, before President Bola Tinubu directed him in December 2023 to prepare charges against the former CBN governor.
He said all persons interviewed by the special investigation team including Emefiele, denied knowledge or involvement in the transaction.
In cross-examination, Justice Muazu held that Obazee is not a forensic document examiner and cannot be asked to authenticate Emefiele’s signature on exhibits tendered before the court.
The matter was adjourned to October 20, 2026, for adoption of final addresses.