On Friday, a dispatch rider named Monday Osazuwa recounted to the Special Offences Court in Lagos his experiences of being instructed by the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to collect $3 million in cash over several instances.
Osazuwa, guided by the EFCC’s counsel Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), shared that prior to his 2014 CBN engagement, he served as a dispatch rider at Zenith Bank starting in 2001.
He mentioned that upon joining the CBN, he took on the role of senior supervisor.
Testifying before Justice Raman Oshodi, Osazuwa revealed that he was later designated as a full-time senior supervisor responsible for document recording and filing within the CBN Governor’s office in Lagos.
He added, “While working in the governor’s office, I was appointed as a full-time staff member, and our usual modes of communication were WhatsApp and email.
“I performed as a senior supervisor, recording and filing with other official roles.
“I remember that in 2020, while he was away from Lagos, Emefiele called me and provided a number, saying a man had something for me to collect, and that this man would give me another person’s number.
“When I arrived at the man’s office, I received an envelope. I counted the money inside and was instructed to deliver it to my boss.”
The witness also informed the court that Emefiele typically handled money collections by himself when in Lagos.
He mentioned that whenever the defendant was absent, Emefiele would direct him (Osazuwa) to hand over the money to the second defendant, Henry Omoile.
Osazuwa noted that Emefiele had sent him to MINL Limited during his time at Zenith Bank.
He elaborated, “Located in Isolo, the company would provide me with cheques at Emefiele’s request. After collecting the cheques from Mr. Monday, I would return them to Emefiele, who then deposited the funds into the account of Dummies Oil and Gas.”
Additionally, Osazuwa disclosed that Emefiele’s co-defendant, Henry Isioma-Omoile, resided at the former CBN governor’s home.
He explained that when he collected money for his boss, Emefiele, he would deliver it to his residence at Iru Close, Ikoyi, Lagos.
“Whenever I received the money and brought it to my boss’s residence, Mr. Emefiele would instruct me to hand it over to the second defendant, Omoile, if he was not present.
I did not maintain a record of the transactions because he directed me to simply collect the money and bring it to his house.
The largest sum I collected was $1 million, entirely in cash. On subsequent occasions, the businessman contacted me, and I collected $850,000, $750,000, and $400,000 in cash in separate instances.
I have never received any reward, payment, or compensation. My actions were out of loyalty, and he is aware of it, yet he never once offered me anything,” the witness stated.
During cross-examination by the defense attorney, Mr. Abdulakeem Labi-Lawal, the witness affirmed to the court his employment with the defendant since 2002.
