The witness' testimony was anticipated to strengthen the charges against Mr Emefiele but appeared to contradict the core of the allegations and the plank of evidence of irregularities EFCC had built through earlier prosecution witnesses.
A prosecution witness, Salawu Gana, Monday justified the vehicle procurement contracts awarded during former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele's contrary to the case of alleged contract irregularities alleged in the charges against the former CBN chief.
Mr Gana, who appeared as the 10th prosecution witness in Mr Emefiele's trial at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, said that the adopted procurement process in awarding the contracts adhered strictly to legal and regulatory guidelines.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Mr Emefiele on amended six counts of criminal conspiracy, conferring undue advantage, and breach of trust, among others. Mr Emefiele pleaded not guilty to all six counts.
A count in the indictment accuses Mr Emefiele of using his position as CBN governor to confer a corrupt advantage on Sa'adatu Ramallan-Yaro, a staff member of CBN by awarding a contract for the supply of 37 Toyota Hilux vehicles at the cost of N854.7 million to April 1616 Investment Ltd, a firm in which Mrs Ramalan-Yaro, a CBN director, was said to have interests.
While Mr Gana's testimony was anticipated to strengthen the charges, it appeared on Monday to contradict the core of the allegations and the plank of evidence of irregularities the EFCC had tried to build through previous witnesses regarding the contracts awarded to April 1616.
Mr Gana insisted on Monday that the contracts for vehicle supplies were awarded after competitive bidding involving three major firms--RT Briscoe, Globe Motors, and April 1616 Nigeria Limited.
He also said the CBN's Procurement Department evaluated the quotations and, after vetting the submissions, recommended April 1616 as the preferred contractor.
When asked to review the documents again, the witness stated that at least five officers had endorsed the contract documents, with Emefiele's approval coming last, following recommendations from four subordinate officers.
Regarding the payment to April 1616, the witness--who was reportedly dismissed from the CBN--explained that the approval was granted only after the company had delivered the vehicles.
"Having supplied the vehicles, the firm was entitled to be paid. All awards that are supplied are to be paid," he said, adding that "the defendant (Emefiele) did the right thing by approving payment.
Under cross-examination by Matthew Burkaa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), lead defence lawyer for former CBN governor Godwin Emefiele, the witness confirmed that the CBN Tenders Board endorsed the recommendation, and Emefiele approved the contract award in line with their findings.
He also admitted that the vehicles were supplied and that April 1616 was duly paid upon approval from the Tenders Board and the defendant.
'Emefiele has no link to April 1616'
When pressed, Mr Gana, who identified himself as the head of the Procurement Unit at the time of the contract awards, clarified that Mr Emefiele was not a member of the Tenders Board.
He further stated that none of the five procurement officers, including himself, who recommended April 1616 for the contract, had been prosecuted by the EFCC.
When asked if he had seen any evidence of funds transferred from April 1616's bank account to Mr Emefiele.
But Mr Gana responded, "No." He also confirmed that, based on the company's registration documents, Mr Emefiele was neither a director, shareholder, nor signatory to April 1616's bank account.
Mr Gana further said Mr Emefiele never influenced him, either through phone calls or text messages, to favour April 1616 in the procurement process.
He emphasised that he did not report directly to Mr Emefiele but to a director, Ekanem Akpan, who was his immediate supervisor.
EFCC tenders contract documents as evidence
Earlier in the proceedings, EFCC prosecutor Rotimi Oyedepo, a SAN, tendered bundles of exhibits related to the bidding process for 45 different vehicle supply contracts involving April 1616, RT Briscoe, and Globe Motors.
During his testimony, Mr Gana stated that April 1616 secured the contracts because it quoted the lowest prices among the three bidders.
How Mr Gabna's testimony contradicts earlier witnessses
In November 2023, the first prosecution witness, Oluwole Owoeye, said Mr Emefiele bypassed due process in awarding contracts as CBN governor.
Mr Owoeye, head of the secretariat of the Major Contract Tender Committee (MCTC), told the court that all 45 contracts awarded by Mr Emefiele circumvented the Contracts Tender Committee of the CBN.
He revealed that any contract in excess of N10 million must go through the MCTC.
He said, although the awarded contracts were within the threshold of the tender committee, Mr Emefiele ignored the process and awarded the contracts to Mrs Ramallan-Yaro's firm for the purchase of posh vehicles for CBN.
Narrating the procedure for the award of contracts, the witness also explained that, when contractors submit their bids, it is the responsibility of the tender committee to vet the companies by ensuring that the particulars of directors are disclosed to the bank to avoid conflict of interest.
"All these requirements that MCTC would have ensured that they are met, were circumvented as the contracts did not go through the Committee," the statement said.
Similarly, in March last year, an ICPC investigator, Michael Agboro, a member of the interagency team that investigated Mr Emefiele, testified as the seventh prosecution witness on the 45 contracts awarded by the CBN to April 1616 Limited and others during Mr Emefiele's time as CBN governor.
The prosecution alleged that the contracts were awarded to family members, including Mr Emefiele's wife, Margaret Emefiele, and associates.
Mr Agboro identified April 1616 Investment Limited, owned by Sa'adatu Ramalan Yaro, a CBN employee and Mr Emefiele's associate, as one of the two beneficiaries of the slew of contracts. The other, according to the witness, is Architekon Nigeria Limited, owned by Mr Emefiele's wife, Margaret Emefiele. One of Margaret's brothers was also said to have benefited from some of the contracts.
"My Lord, these companies were awarded about 45 contracts to supply Toyota Vehicles. We were worried as investigators as to how a particular company would get bids concurrently to supply vehicles. We did our investigation and discovered that the company was not even accredited by Toyota," Mr Agboro said in his testimony as the seventh prosecution witness in March last year.
Emefiele seeks to bar additional EFCC witnesses
Meanwhile, on Monday, Mr Emefiele's legal team, led by Mr Burkaa, asked the court to prohibit the EFCC from calling additional witnesses beyond the 10 already listed in the proof of evidence.
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Mr Burkaa argued that the prosecution had presented all necessary documents related to the alleged procurement fraud and that allowing further witnesses would be excessive and unfair.
However, EFCC's lawyer opposed the application, arguing that it would violate the agency's right to a fair hearing.
He urged the court to reject the motion "in the interest of justice."
Trial judge, Hamza Muazu, scheduled ruling on the application for 20 March.
Charges
Mr Emefiele is facing amended six counts filed by the EFCC, which includes allegations of criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy to obtain money by false pretences, and corruption during his tenure as CBN governor.
The prosecution accused the former CBN governor of conferring corrupt advantages on two companies--April 1616 Nigeria Ltd and Architekon Nigeria Ltd.
The charges added that Mr Emefiele conferred corrupt advantages on Mrs Ramalan-Yaro, using her firm, April 1616 Investment Limited, to execute several procurement contracts spanning years.
The alleged corrupt transactions took place between 2018 and 2020, according to the charges.
EFCC initially arraigned Mrs Ramalan-Yaro alongside Mr Emefiele as a co-defendant. However, an amendment to the case last year discharged her from trial, while the number of charges against Mr Emefiele was reduced from 20 to six.
Among the remaining charges, one alleges that Mr Emefiele forged a document titled "Re: Presidential Directive on Foreign Election Observer Missions," dated 26 January 2023, with reference number SGF.43/L.01/201. The document was purportedly misrepresented as originating from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
