A prosecution witness in the trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has told an FCT High Court in Maitama that he received an oral waiver to process disputed transactions outside normal banking procedures.
The witness, Richard Agulu, a former Zenith Bank staff member, made the statement on Tuesday during cross-examination by Emefiele’s counsel, Mathew Burkaa, SAN.
Agulu is the third prosecution witness in the case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against Emefiele and one Eric Ocheme, who is said to be at large.
The charge is marked FCT/HC/CR/358/2025.
The EFCC accused Emefiele and Ocheme of unlawfully keeping billions of naira in proxy accounts at Zenith Bank.
The commission also alleged that Emefiele forged a document titled “Irrevocable Power of Attorney Between MG Properties Limited and H and Y Business Global Limited” in January 2021.
According to the EFCC, the alleged forgery was intended to make it appear that the document was executed by or with the authority of H and Y Business Global Limited.
The alleged offences were said to contravene Sections 319, 362 and 364 of the Penal Code.
Emefiele has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
During cross-examination, Agulu said the transactions in question were unusual and did not follow Zenith Bank’s standard operational procedures.
He told the court that he was given an oral waiver to process the transactions because of what he described as a peculiar situation.
According to him, the oral waiver came from Zenith Bank’s Head of Operations, Macauly Ihekoronye.
Agulu admitted that he transferred more than ₦5 billion into the accounts of Ifeadigo and Kelvito Investment without following the usual due process.
He said the transfers were carried out outside regular banking hours.
The witness also said instructions for the transactions came from Eric Ocheme, who was said to be Emefiele’s personal assistant.
Agulu further admitted that he deposited cash into customers’ accounts and wrote the narration in a way that suggested the deposits were made by the account owners.
He also acknowledged that the EFCC did not put him on trial, despite his admission that the transactions were processed outside normal banking procedures.
When confronted with Zenith Bank’s operational policy documents by the defence counsel, Agulu maintained that the transactions were handled that way because of the special circumstances at the time.
He also told the court that he had no physical contact with Emefiele throughout the disputed transactions.
The witness said that in his statement to the EFCC, he did not claim that he delivered payment receipts to the former CBN governor.
After concluding his cross-examination, Burkaa asked the court to take judicial notice of the witness’s demeanour.
He alleged that Agulu was unwilling and deliberately refused to answer some questions relating to his role in the disputed bank transactions.
Prosecution counsel, Abbas Mohammed, opposed the request.
Mohammed argued that it was the court’s responsibility to determine whether a witness was withholding information or not.
Justice Yusuf Halilu later adjourned the matter until November 3 for continuation of trial.
The case remains one of the high-profile prosecutions involving the former CBN governor, with the court expected to continue hearing evidence on the disputed transactions and related allegations.
