$6.2 Million CBN Case: Investigator Links Emefiele To Alleged Fraudulent Withdrawal

Jim Obazee, a prosecution witness, told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja on Friday that 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.

The 15th prosecution witness, Obazee, testified at the trial of former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele before Justice Hamza Muazu.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Emefiele on a 20-count amended charge bordering on alleged conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, forgery, obtaining by false pretence and conferment of corrupt advantages involving $6.23m.

The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), led in evidence that Obazee allegedly released the money from the CBN Abuja branch on February 3, 2023 as funds 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 made the account go into a negative balance of N2,858,150,196.42.

“He said Emefiele and the chief accounting officer of the bank should have seen the development.

“You can’t walk out of the bank until you balance the account,” he said.

The witness said that the transaction did not leave the bank with the proper documentation of receiving officer.

He told the court that there was no evidence that the funds got to foreign election observers or that the Federal Government or the CBN derived any economic benefit from it.

The money was actually taken but it didn’t go to the intended beneficiaries,” he said.

His team started its investigation by looking at internal control weaknesses at the apex bank and questioning officials of internal audit, he said.

He said that a letter written by former President Muhammadu Buhari to the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, authorised the release of funds for the logistics of election observers.

He said a follow-up letter from Mustapha to Emefiele named one Jibril Abubakar as the person to collect the money.

The witness also said that the CBN’s Bank Verification Number (BVN) portal was down for over a month before the withdrawal, so it was not possible to verify the identity of the person that withdrew the money.

He also alleged that the CBN official that received and processed the payment documents was not redeployed through the normal procedure to the governor’s office 56 days after the transaction.

Some of the money was recovered from one Bashir Maishanu, who allegedly confessed to the crime and handed $856,500 over to the special investigation team, Obazee said.

He said Maishanu should be tried alongside Emefiele.

Under cross-examination by Emefiele’s counsel, Matthew Burkaa (SAN), Obazee agreed that criminal charges had already been filed against Emefiele in September 2023, before the directive of President Bola Tinubu in December 2023 for him to prepare charges against the former CBN governor.

He added that all persons interviewed by the special investigation team, including Emefiele, denied any knowledge or involvement in the transaction.

Justice Muazu ruled that Obazee is not a forensic document examiner and that he cannot be asked in cross-examination to authenticate Emefiele’s signature on exhibits tendered before the court.

The matter was adjourned for adoption of final addresses on 20.10.2026.