A dispatch rider, Monday Osazuwa, who is the first prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of the embattled former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has told the court that he kept no record of monies collected for Emefiele.

Osazuwa stated this when he was re-cross-examined by Emefiele’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), at the Lagos Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja.

At the resumed trial, yesterday, Osazuwa told Justice Rahman Oshodi that Emefiele instructed him not to keep any record of all the monies he collected for him.

He said: “The highest amount I collected was $1 million, all in cash, and some weeks later, the businessman also called me, and I collected $850,000, $750,000, and $400,000 cash in tranches.

“I did not keep records of transactions because the instructions he (Emefiele) gave me was that I should collect the money and bring it to his house.

“Whenever I receive the money and take it to his residence, Emefiele will tell me to give it to the second defendant (Omoile) whenever he is not at home.”

The witness testified that he was a dispatch rider in Zenith Bank since 2001 before he joined CBN as a contract staff in 2014, noting that Emefiele was his boss while in Zenith Bank before he later joined him in CBN.

He also told the court that he was later appointed as a senior supervisor (full-time) in recording and filing documents while working in the governor’s office in Lagos.

However, Ojo asked Osazuwa if at any time he put in his three statements made at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that he wrote that Emefiele instructed him not to keep records, to which he answered No.

He further told the court that he was detained in EFCC’s custody for a week and thereafter admitted to bail.

On cross-examination, the second defence counsel, Adeyinka Kotoye (SAN), asked the witness to clarify where he stated in his evidence that he and the second defendant counted the money in the envelope he collected for Emefiele but said no.

Earlier, the fifth prosecution witness, a Business Relationship Manager with Zenith Bank Plc., Ifeoma Ogbonnaya, in the conclusion of her testimony, told the court that she gave the statements of account of Comec, Limelight, and Amswin Resources Limited addressed to Mrs Margaret Emefiele (Emefiele’s wife) to the regulators.

She also said that of all the documents available to her as the representative of Zenith Bank, there is nothing in the document related to Emefiele.

In his testimony, the sixth prosecution witness, John Ogah, led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), told the court that he was a member of staff of Zenith Bank where he worked as Secretary to Godwin Emefiele when he was the Managing Director of the bank.

The witness said he was responsible for receiving all internal and external mails for the governor of CBN and also directed his attention to them.

After listening to his testimonies, Justice Oshodi subsequently adjourned further trial to October 30 and 31, 2024.