The Lagos State Special Offences Court on Thursday admitted crucial digital evidence, including a WhatsApp conversation against the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele.
The former CBN boss is facing charges of alleged $4.5 billion fraud and abuse of office.
Justice Rahman Oshodi, presiding over the court in Ikeja, overruled the objections of the defence and accepted the electronic evidence presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The WhatsApp conversation was marked as Exhibit “G,” while the recovered mobile phones were also formally admitted as exhibits.
During the session, EFCC counsel, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), continued the examination of an operative of the commission, Mr Alvan Grumnaan, who gave further details of the agency’s findings.
Grumnaan read out the WhatsApp chat in open court, revealing an exchange between two individuals identified as Omoike and John Adetola.
The messages allegedly instructed Adetola to hand over $400,000 to “oga,” a reference the EFCC claims points to Emefiele.
According to the witness, Adetola explained during interrogation that “oga” referred to the then-CBN Governor.
He reportedly met with Emefiele’s personal assistant, Mr John Ikechukwu-Ayoh, in Lekki, Lagos, and delivered the $400,000 to him for onward transfer to the former apex bank chief.
“Adetola confirmed that he went to Lekki, where he met John Ikechukwu-Ayoh, personal assistant to the CBN governor, to deliver the money.
“He later proceeded to the CBN office in Lagos to hand it over to Mr Emefiele,” Grumnaan told the court.
Grumnaan added that further investigation revealed Ikechukwu-Ayoh also received another $200,000 from the same source, funds later traced to Mr Victor Oyedua, a CBN contractor.
“We invited Mr Victor Oyedua, who admitted that he gave the sums of $400,000 and $200,000 to Ayoh to deliver to the first defendant.
“He explained that two of his contracts with the CBN were pending, and he had not been paid. He said he was told to ‘settle management’ to facilitate payment,” Grumnaan said.
According to the EFCC witness, Oyedua’s statement was documented and forms part of the investigation file.
The prosecution also tendered original company documents dated February 24, 2024, which were admitted by the court as Exhibit “H,” despite resistance from Emefiele’s defence team, led by Messrs. Olalekan Ojo (SAN) and Kazeem Gbadamosi (SAN).
The defence had argued that the documents were uncertified and lacked proper authentication.
They also objected to the admissibility of statements made by the second defendant, claiming they were extracted under duress.
Justice Oshodi consequently ordered a trial-within-trial to determine the voluntariness of the statements.
The court adjourned the case until November 21, 2025, for a report on a forensic inspection agreement between the parties, and to December 2, 2025, for the commencement of the trial-within-trial.
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