Emefiele: Documents used to request $6.2m payment for observers forged, forensic analyst tells Court

Thu, Mar 7, 2024
By editor
2 MIN READ

Featured, Judiciary

THE trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, continued on Thursday before Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja as a forensic analyst confirmed that the documents used to request the payment of $6.2million for foreign election observers were forged.

The witness, Bamaiyi Meriga, called by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), informed the court that following forensic analysis of the disputed documents, he discovered that there was clear evidence of forgery of signature, and the seal of execution were different from the original.

Continuing the trial of former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, a forensic analyst has confirmed that the document used to request payment of $6.2 million to foreign election observers was forged.#ChannelsTVNews pic.twitter.com/tx0wTIsCIt

He also confirmed that the signature were not those of former President Muhammadu Buhari and ex-Secretary General of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha.

The two documents, Presidential Directive on Foreign Observer Election and Presidential Directive on Foreign Observer Election tendered in evidence were admitted in evidence by the trial judge, Justice Muazu.

Counsel for Emefiele, Matthew Burkaa, expressed displeasure over the conduct of the witness, saying that the witness misled the court by evading questions.

However, the Prosecution Counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, was not not happy with the defence counsel.

The trial has been adjourned till March 11 for continuation.

Emefiele is standing trial before Justice Muazu on 20-count amended charges bordering on corrupt advantages, conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, forgery and obtaining by false pretenses to the tune of $6,230,000.

He was accused of impersonating the SGF to illegally obtain a sum of $6.2m.

Mid-February, ex-SGF Mustapha testified before the court and said he knew nothing about the transaction up till the time he left office at the end of May 2023, adding that having served for five years and seven months, the document in contention didn’t emanate from the office of the then President Buhari. – channelstv-

A.

-March 07, 2024 @ 15:32 GMT|

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