A prosecution witness on Monday told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, that at least $6.23billion was allegedly moved out of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the pretext of financing foreign election observers for the 2023 general elections under the former governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele.
The witness, Chinedu Eneanya, testified before Justice Hamza Muazu in the ongoing trial of Emefiele.
Emefiele is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on an amended 20-count charge bordering on alleged criminal breach of trust, forgery, abuse of office, conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence.
Eneanya, who appeared as the 13th prosecution witness (PW13), told the court that he was a member of the investigative team assigned to probe the allegations against the former apex bank chief.
Led in evidence by EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), the witness said investigations uncovered that $6.23 billion was withdrawn from the CBN’s vaults under the guise of paying foreign election monitors invited for the 2023 polls.
According to him, several individuals linked to the controversial transfer of funds were invited for questioning during the investigation.
He added that key documents authorising the release of the money were also retrieved from the CBN.
The witness further told the court that investigators discovered that the signatures of late former President Muhammadu Buhari and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, were allegedly forged to approve the release of the funds.
He said forensic examination carried out on the documents confirmed that the signatures credited to both officials were fake.
During cross-examination by defence counsel, Matthew Burkaa (SAN), Eneanya disclosed that five officials of the CBN who endorsed the internal memo connected to the transaction had since been suspended by the bank.
Earlier in the proceedings, Burkaa urged the court to foreclose the prosecution’s case if it failed to produce its remaining two witnesses at the next sitting.
He accused the prosecution of deliberately dragging the trial in a manner that could frustrate the defendant.
However, Oyedepo opposed the request, insisting that the prosecution had no intention of delaying the matter.
He explained that the remaining witnesses were currently outside the court’s jurisdiction and based in Benin City and Lagos, making their appearance difficult.
Oyedepo appealed to the court not to prevent the prosecution from fully presenting its case.
Justice Muazu directed both parties to reserve their arguments on the application until the final address stage.
He also instructed the prosecution to work with the court registrar to ensure subpoenas were issued for the outstanding witnesses.
The case was adjourned until Tuesday, April 28, 2026, for continuation of the trial.