An Assistant Manager with Zenith Bank Plc, Mrs. Ifeoma Ogbonnaya, has provided testimony on how Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), transferred funds to his wife, Mrs. Margaret Emefiele.
During a session at the Ikeja Special Offences Court on Tuesday, Ogbonnaya detailed how Emefiele used Zenith Bank to move multimillion-naira amounts to his wife.
Emefiele is currently on trial for abuse of office and alleged fraud involving $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion.
Ogbonnaya, the fifth prosecution witness, was led in evidence by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Counsel, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN).
She explained that Emefiele used Zenith Bank to transfer millions of naira in tranches to his wife through various companies, including Amswing Resources and Solution, Limelight Dimensional Service Ltd., Omec Support Service Ltd., and Mango Farm.
“Limelight manages the facilities of CBN located at Alakija, handling all transactions related to power and repairs,” she said.
Ogbonnaya, who also serves as a Business Relationship Manager, joined the bank in 2006. She stated that she never had direct dealings with the ex-CBN governor but received instructions from his wife to transfer cash from CBN into their private companies through Zenith Bank accounts.
Apart from Mrs. Emefiele, Ogbonnaya received instructions from two other individuals, Mr. John Ogah and Mr. Opeyemi Oludimu, who worked for Emefiele but are now deceased. She managed the various companies’ accounts through which the multimillion-naira transfers were made.
“Mrs. Margaret Emefiele, the ex-CBN governor’s wife, is the direct beneficiary of these accounts. She would send transfer instructions directly to my official email address or have others act on her behalf, but I still received approval from her,” Ogbonnaya said.
Ogbonnaya provided details of specific transactions, including cash flows from the apex bank to the accounts between March 9 and 11, 2015, totaling N18.9 million and N1.8 million. Additional transactions included N43 million on February 22, 2021, N37.3 million on July 21, 2022, N44.6 million on October 21, 2022, and N93.1 million on May 10, 2023.