A Director in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Ali Mohammed, on Tuesday told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja that the ministry was unaware of the withdrawal of N124.86 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Mohammed, who testified as the 10th prosecution witness, PW10, in the trial of former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said none of the three divisions under his supervision had any knowledge of the transaction.

Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Abbas Mohammed, the witness said he appeared before the court following a letter received by the Ministry from the team investigating the withdrawal of N154 billion allegedly made by the CBN.

Mohammed said after receiving the letter, he contacted the three divisions under his Department of Home Finance to establish whether any of them had knowledge of the transaction.

According to him, the divisions were State and Public Finance, Trade and Banking and Other Financial Institutions.

“None of the three divisions was privy to the transaction,” he told the court.

He explained that the State and Public Finance Investment Division was particularly relevant because it oversees the affairs of the CBN.

Mohammed said he subsequently wrote, through the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) to determine whether it was aware of the transaction.

He said the OAGF was the appropriate office to approach because it is responsible for the custody and processing of payments for the Federal Government.

The witness told the court that the Accountant-General responded in writing that the office was not aware of the transaction and classified the money as a direct credit from the CBN.

He said the response formed the basis of the memorandum he prepared for the Special Investigator.

“I responded via a memo of what has transpired between my office and that of the AGF and sought for clearance for such document to be forwarded to the Special Investigator. Subsequently, the letter was forwarded,” he said.

Mohammed identified the documents sent to the investigator when they were shown to him in court.

The documents comprised a letter bearing the logo of the Federal Ministry of Finance, which he signed, and a letter signed by the Accountant-General of the Federation.

He told the court that the originals had already been forwarded to the Special Investigator and therefore sought to tender certified true copies.

Defence counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, raised no objection to their admission.

Justice Maryanne Anineh subsequently admitted the documents and marked them as Exhibits AJ, AK and AL.

Explaining Exhibit AJ, Mohammed said the document established that the Federal Ministry of Finance had no knowledge of the N124.86 billion withdrawal.

He said he relied on the letter from the Accountant-General before signing the document.

On Exhibit AL, the witness said it was the confirmation from the OAGF that it had no knowledge of the transaction involving the N124.86 billion.

The prosecution drew the witness’s attention to the third line of Exhibit AJ, which stated that the amount under consideration had been classified in the ministry’s records as a direct debit by the CBN.

Explaining the expression, Mohammed said: “Direct debit means it was withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria without recourse of any office in Nigeria. That is what it means.”

He further told the court that, ordinarily, the OAGF, which is supervised by the Federal Ministry of Finance, would have to be directed before such a withdrawal could be made.

He added that the document did not indicate that the Federal Ministry of Finance had directed the OAGF to make the withdrawal, particularly from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Earlier, PW9, Hamisu Abdullahi, a Director of Banking Services at the CBN, continued his testimony before the court.

The prosecution reminded him of his earlier cross-examination on May 4, 2026, when he referred to a specific email, and asked whether he could still recall the document.

Abdullahi answered in the affirmative.

He explained that the email was generated from the CBN’s computer system, certified as a true copy, signed and accompanied by a certificate of compliance.

According to him, the email conveyed a directive from the then CBN governor to recover N1.4 billion debit in the receivables account from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

When shown the document, Abdullahi confirmed that he could identify it.

The prosecution subsequently tendered the email and its accompanying certificate.

Ojo, SAN, who represented the defence, said he had no objection.

Justice Anineh admitted the documents and marked them Exhibits AH1 and AH2 respectively.

Following the completion of PW9’s testimony, the witness was discharged.

The court thereafter adjourned the case until October 7, 2026, for cross-examination and continuation of trial.

Emefiele is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a four-count charge bordering on alleged disobedience to lawful directives and unlawful acts allegedly resulting in harm to members of the public in connection with the controversial naira redesign policy.