As the trial of the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria , Godwin Emefiele resumed hearing at the Federal High Court in Maitama , Abuja,a forensic analyst,Bamaiyi Meriga has testified that the documents used to request the payment of $6.2 million for foreign election observers were forged.
Meriga, said this on Thursday while giving evidence as a witness in the trial of Emefiele.
At the resumed court session, the witness said after a forensic analysis of the disputed documents, he discovered that there was clear evidence of forgery of signature and that the seal of execution was different from the original.
He also claimed that the signatures were not those of former President Muhammadu Buhari and Boss Mustapha, former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF).
The two documents on ‘Presidential Directive on Foreign Observer Election’ were tendered and admitted in evidence by the court.
Under cross-examination by counsel for Emefiele, the witness said he was not a staff of the EFCC, and was not being paid by the anti-graft agency, but that his salary was domiciled with the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
Emefiele is standing trial before Justice Muazu on a 20-count amended criminal charge bordering on alleged criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, procurement fraud and conspiracy to commit a felony.
The amended criminal charge was preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC.
In some of the counts, the EFCC alleged that Emefiele, in January 2023, forged a document titled: ‘RE: PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE ON FOREIGN ELECTION OBSERVER MISSIONS,’ dated 26 January 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201.
The Commission said Emefiele made the claim despite knowing it to be false and committed an offence contrary to section 1(1) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act.
In the amended charge marked CR/577/2023, Emefiele, on February 8, 2023, connived with one Odoh Ocheme, who is now on the run, to obtain $6.2 million from the CBN, claiming that the SGF requested it “vide a letter dated 26th January 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201″.
The Former SGF,Boss Mustapha had previously raised the alarm in the trial court that his signature and that of Buhari were forged.
Mustapha who appeared as Prosecution witness 2 in February told the court that he knew nothing about the transaction up till the time he left office at the end of May2023.
He said that having served in that capacity for five years and 7 months he was conversant with the directives from his former boss maintaining that the signature of the former president was forged .
The former SGF also said that the recipient of the money was not a staff of the SGF office as the CBN claimed.:
