Finance Ministry Had No Record Of ₦124.86bn CBN Withdrawal Under Emefiele, Witness Tells Court.

 

The Federal Ministry of Finance had no record or prior knowledge of the ₦124.86 billion withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Account by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under its former governor, Godwin Emefiele, an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness has told the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.

The witness, Ali Mohammed, a director in the Federal Ministry of Finance, gave the testimony on Tuesday before Justice Maryanne Anenih.

Mohammed, who supervises three divisions under the ministry’s Home Finance Unit, said the transactions came to light after he received an inquiry from the presidential special investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu to investigate the affairs of the apex bank.

He told the court that, upon receiving the inquiry, he convened an emergency meeting with the heads of the three divisions under his supervision.

According to the witness, all three officials confirmed that they had no prior knowledge of the withdrawals and that there were no records of the transactions within their respective divisions.

Seeking further clarification, Mohammed said he formally wrote to the Accountant General of the Federation through the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance.

He said the Office of the Accountant General subsequently responded that it had no records of the transaction, leading to the conclusion that the funds had been disbursed independently by the CBN.

The correspondence between the ministry and the Accountant General’s Office was tendered before the court and admitted as exhibits without objection from Emefiele’s defence counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN.

Justice Anenih subsequently adjourned further proceedings until October 7, when the defence is expected to cross-examine the witness.