Emefiele: Ex-SGF Testifies That the Papers Used to Pay $6.2 Million in Election Observers Were Not Originating From My Office
Present in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja on Tuesday to provide testimony in the continuing trial of former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, was Boss Mustapha, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
The 20-count amended accusations against Emefiele include conspiracies, forgery, criminal breach of trust, corrupt advantages, and gaining by false pretences amounting to $6,230,000. He is standing trial before Justice Muazu.
The prosecution claimed that he stole $6.2 million by pretending to be the SGF.
In his role as Prosecution Witness 2, Mustapha stated that he was unaware of the transaction until he resigned from office at the end of May 2023. He further stated that the document in question did not originate from the office of President Muhammadu Buhari during his five-year and seven-month tenure.
Monday, Onyeka Ogbu, who is a First Prosecution Witness (PW1), described how the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) authorised the payment of $6,230,000 to foreign election monitors for the 2023 general election.
The 6.2 million dollar payment request was evaluated and approved by Ogbu, the Deputy Director of Branch Operations at the top bank.
On Tuesday, during his court appearance, the former SGF asserted that the term “Special Appropriation Provision” was completely foreign to him throughout his tenure in office.
The words “appropriation” and “supplementary.” are the only ones he is familiar with.
Mustapha went on to explain that former President Buhari never ended any of his letters or emails with “Please accept with my utmost regard,” and that the signature was an attempt to imitate Buhari’s signature that failed.
Mustapha argues that the United States government should not be involved in the funding of foreign election monitors. He does not believe that letters convey the judgements of the Federal Executive Council.