Emefiele trial: Finance Ministry unaware of N124.86bn CBN withdrawal -Witness tells Court

A Director in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Ali Mohammed, has told the Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, that the Ministry was not aware of the withdrawal of N124.86 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Mohammed, who testified as the 10th prosecution witness, PW10, in the ongoing trial of former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, made the disclosure on Tuesday, October 6, 2026.

Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Abbas Mohammed, the witness said his Ministry became involved after receiving a letter from an investigation team concerning N154 billion reportedly withdrawn by the CBN.

Mohammed said he contacted the three divisions under his supervision to determine whether they were aware of the transaction.

According to him, none of the divisions had knowledge of the transaction.

He identified the State and Public Finance Investment Division as the relevant division because of its oversight responsibility involving the CBN.

The witness said he subsequently wrote through the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to establish whether the office was aware of the transaction.

He told the court that the Accountant General’s Office responded that it was not aware of the transaction and classified the money as a direct credit from the CBN.

Mohammed said the response formed the basis of his subsequent communication to the Special Investigator.

He identified documents relating to the correspondence in court, which were tendered by the prosecution and admitted in evidence after defence counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, raised no objection.

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

Explaining Exhibit AJ, Mohammed said the document established that the withdrawal of N124.86 billion was not known to the Federal Ministry of Finance.

He also explained the phrase “direct debit” contained in the document as meaning that the money was withdrawn from the CBN without recourse to any government office.

The witness further told the court that, ordinarily, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation would be directed before any withdrawal involving government funds was made.

He said the documents did not indicate that the Federal Ministry of Finance had directed the Accountant General’s Office to make the withdrawal, particularly from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

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

The prosecution referred him to an email he had mentioned during cross examination on May 4, 2026.

Abdullahi confirmed the email, which he said was generated from the CBN’s computer system, certified as a true copy 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 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund in respect of a debit in the receivables account.

The prosecution tendered the email and accompanying certificate, while Ojo, SAN, said the defence had no objection.

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

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

Justice Anineh adjourned the matter until Wednesday, October 7, 2026, for cross examination and continuation of the trial.

Emefiele is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on a four count charge bordering on alleged disobedience to lawful directives and alleged unlawful acts connected with the controversial naira redesign policy.