The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, urged Justice Hamza Mu’azu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama, Abuja, to dismiss the no-case submission filed by former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Emefiele is facing an amended 20-count charge bordering on alleged criminal breach of trust, forgery, abuse of office, conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretence, including allegations relating to the withdrawal of $6.23 million and conferment of corrupt advantage in the award of CBN contracts.
Prosecution counsel, Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, argued that the purpose of a no-case submission was to determine whether the prosecution had established a prima facie case, not to determine guilt or evaluate credibility of witnesses at this stage.
He maintained that calling Emefiele to enter his defence would not amount to asking him to prove his innocence, but would give him opportunity to answer issues raised by the prosecution’s evidence.
On contract-related counts, Oyedepo identified the ingredients of the offences as the defendant’s status as public officer, use of that position and conferment of corrupt advantage on relations or associates, citing exhibits bearing Emefiele’s approval signatures and corporate records linking him to companies associated with his wife and brother-in-law, including Architekon Nigeria Limited.
He argued that the contracts, valued between $6 million and $10 million, did not pass through the Major Contracts Tender Board established under the Public Procurement Act, 2007, and chaired by a Deputy Governor, noting that contracts exceeding $1 million were required to be reviewed by the Board to check whether CBN staff were directors of bidding companies.
According to him, the alleged bypassing of the Board prevented necessary checks, with testimony from PW10, a procurement department staff, indicating that officials were allegedly instructed to process bids in favour of the company linked to Emefiele’s associates after being informed of CBN’s in-house prices.
The prosecution submitted that the case was not defeated by claims that contracts were executed or money was not traced directly to Emefiele, stressing that unfairness of the process was central, and that the company had not won such contracts until Emefiele became Governor, after which it allegedly received all 45 contracts under consideration, with transfers from his personal account to the company’s account.
On the alleged $6.23 million withdrawal, Oyedepo argued that the money was withdrawn between February and June before Emefiele’s removal, purportedly on the strength of letters attributed to former President Muhammadu Buhari and former SGF Boss Mustapha, which witnesses including Mustapha and a forensic analyst showed were forged, and that the withdrawal triggered an automatic system notification to Emefiele which he allegedly ignored.
In opposing the application, defence counsel Mathew Burkaa, SAN, urged the court to discharge Emefiele, arguing that the prosecution failed to prove essential ingredients of the offences, saying “in the entirety of the charge, the prosecution failed to prove that he had conferred undue advantage on his wife and his associates,” while the court stated that date for ruling on the no-case submission would be communicated to parties.
