Emefiele approved 45 CBN contracts for wife – Witness

BY ANDREW OROLUA

Ex- Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele and nine other officials of the apex bank approved 45 multi-billion Naira contracts for Emefiele’s wife, Margaret.

An investigator with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Agboro Omowera, told a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Monday.

Omowera said Emefiele’s brother-in-law and a staff member of the apex bank, Sa`adatu Ramallan Yaro were also beneficiaries of the contracts.

According to the investigator, who served as a member of the 20-man investigative team that probed the allegations of fraud against Emefiele, nine other CBN officials minuted on the contract documents while Emefiele gave the final approval.

Omowera, the 7th prosecution witness in 20-count charges against Emefiele, told Justice Hamza Muazu that Sa`adatu Ramallan Yaro, a director at April 1616 Investment Ltd, was awarded several contracts by the CBN under the watch of Emefiele, for the supply of over 45 Toyota Hilux vehicles ranging from N854, 700,000, to N99,900,000.

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He also testified that Emefiele’s wife, Margaret, and his brother-in-law were directors and major shareholders of Architecom Nigeria Ltd, a company that was contracted by the apex bank to renovate the CBN governor’s residence in Ikoyi, Lagos State.

Led in evidence by counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, the witness explained that after Emefiele was appointed CBN governor in 2014, the company where his wife owned majority shares started enjoying the patronage of the CBN.

He added that his investigative team, comprising different agencies, including the Department of State Services (DSS), also found out that the husband of Yaro, had other companies but they were not patronised by the CBN except the one in which the wife was a director.

The witness submitted that investigation revealed the former governor of CBN gave final approval, awarding contracts to the two companies for the supply of vehicles, renovation of the CBN governor’s residence, and provision of power lines.

Omowera said, “In the second company, April 1616 Investment Limited, we also discovered that one of the directors of that company by name, Sahadatu Ramalan Yaro, was a director of April 1616 investment.

“We discovered that the company was incorporated a few days after her employment with the CBN and she was posted to CBN Lagos office.

“In 2018, the company started to enjoy the patronage of the CBN in the procurement of particular vehicles, Toyota branded motors.

During the period April 1616 Investment company was awarded about 45 different contracts.

“My lord, we were curious as investigators, how it was possible for a company that has no track record to continually win bids against Toyota accredited bidders.

“We tried to confirm whether this company was accredited by Toyota and to our surprise, it was not among the accredited bidders.”

Under cross-examination by Emefiele’s lawyer, Matthew Burkaa, SAN, the witness was asked if Emefiele conferred corrupt advantage on himself.

The witness replied No, saying, “Why I said no is because we limited our investigation to his relatives and associates and not him.”

He was asked if he interviewed persons at the CBN to determine whether the contracts were implemented.

The witness said he interviewed some persons but added he could not specifically verify whether the execution of the contracts was contained in the team’s investigative report.

He also said he did not visit the CBN governor’s residence in Lagos during his investigation, to determine if the contract awarded to Architecom Nigeria Limited was executed.

The investigator agreed that it was not wrong to pay contractors if they had done what they are supposed to do.

He admitted that Emefiele was not a shareholder, director or signatory to the bank accounts of neither of the two companies, April 1616 or Architecom.

The witness also admitted that it was the procurement department of the CBN that handled the contracts awarded to April 1616 and Architecom Nigeria Limited.

He also confirmed that it is the duty of the tenders committee of the CBN, of which Emefiele is not a member, to vet, review, and recommend contracts at the apex bank including the two companies in dispute.

The witness also admitted the defence team was right to say he did not know if the laid down procedures at the CBN were followed in awarding the contracts.

But the witness added, “About 10 persons acted on the documents awarding the contracts.

“There are ten minutes and one approval, so one person takes the responsibility. He (Emefiele) is the head of the CBN and the buck stops at his table.”

The witness also confirmed Emefiele told him that his wife was part of Architecom Nigeria Limited but added he could not remember if he said his wife was not a director in the company.

Justice Muazu fixed April 25 for the continuation of the trial.