A former Zenith Bank staff, Richard Agulu, on Tuesday told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama that he lodged billions of naira in cash for former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, during his time at the bank.
Testifying as the Third Prosecution Witness, PW3, in Emefiele’s ongoing trial, according to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Agulu said the cash was brought to him by Emefiele’s personal assistant, Eric Ocheme.
Emefiele is being prosecuted by the EFCC on an eight-count charge, bordering on criminal breach of trust, conspiracy, forgery and unlawful possession of properties suspected to be proceeds of crime to the tune of ₦7,831,002,396.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Mathew Burkaa, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) that he would usually lodge the sums in the accounts of Ifeabigo Integrated Services and Kelvito Integrated Services or deposit them in Zenith Bank’s vault, all on Emefiele’s instruction.
He further told the court that while he was with Zenith Bank, he was under Emefiele’s instructions to receive cash from Ocheme and disburse it according to his instructions.
He said Mr Emefiele would usually convey the instructions to him through Ocheme’s phone.
The witness, who stated that he worked in the banking sector for 17 years, disclosed that the withdrawals made from the deposits he made for Emefiele into Ifeabigo Integrated Services and Kelvito Integrated Services accounts were authenticated by the real account owners and signatories, adding that he had verbal waivers from his superiors to attend to the transactions of the defendant.
“My lord, for every transaction, I followed normal banking transaction procedures. I followed the steps for cash deposition, but there are different scenarios for different transactions. There are waivers for some certain customers who can bring cash into the bank. I was not given a written approval, but I was given a waiver to attend to the transaction of the defendant, which was verbal from my superiors. I cannot mention names. I don’t want to put somebody in trouble,” he said.
The witness further revealed that he supervised the transfer of N1.6 billion to MG Properties Limited on Emefiele’s instruction through his personal assistant, Ocheme.
Justice Halilu adjourned the matter till November 3, 4, 5, 2026, for continuation of the trial.
