We arrested lawyer with $2m cash allegedly belonging to Emefiele

The EFCC agent told the court that the lawyer confirmed during interrogation that the suspicious $2 million cash belonged to Mr Emefiele.

An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigator testified before the FCT High Court in Abuja on Thursday, detailing how a lawyer working for former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele was apprehended in possession of over $2 million in cash.

The EFCC agent, David Jaiyeoba, informed the court that the lawyer, Collins Omeife, admitted during interrogation that the funds belonged to Mr Emefiele.

Appearing as the 12th prosecution witness in the corruption trial of Mr Emefiele, Mr Jaiyeoba’s testimony is part of a case involving 20 charges related to his tenure as CBN governor. Mr Emefiele was removed from office in June 2023 amid corruption allegations after serving for nine years.

The EFCC is prosecuting Mr Emefiele on 20 amended counts, which include criminal breach of trust, forgery, obtaining by false pretence, conspiracy to commit forgery, procurement fraud, and conspiracy to commit a felony. The charges notably include the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of $6.23 million from the CBN vault in Abuja in 2023, purportedly for payments to fake foreign election observers. Mr Emefiele has vehemently denied all charges.

Since taking the stand as a prosecution witness last month, Mr Jaiyeoba has consistently testified that Mr Omeife admitted to regularly receiving cash, including United States dollars, from Mr Emefiele. He stated that the funds were typically delivered through Mr Emefiele’s personal assistant, Eric Ocheme, and were used to acquire properties and renovate existing assets for the former CBN governor.

The witness listed the properties in question, including:

· Detached duplexes at No. 17B Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos State.

· A bungalow and undeveloped land measuring 1,919.592 square meters on Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi.

· A four-bedroom duplex at 12A Probyn Road, Ikoyi.

· An industrial complex under construction on 22 plots in Agbor, Delta State.

· Eight units of undetached apartments on Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State.

· A detached duplex on Bank Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State.

The EFCC has characterized the cash used to acquire, renovate, or develop these properties as proceeds of Mr Emefiele’s alleged corrupt activities while in office. The agency had previously secured a final forfeiture order for some of these assets, but in June 2025, the Court of Appeal in Lagos overturned that order and directed a fresh hearing in the lower court.

In his testimony on Thursday, Mr Jaiyeoba stated that the EFCC arrested Mr Omeife with $2,045,000 in cash, and that Mr Omeife confirmed the money belonged to Mr Emefiele.

Furthermore, Mr Jaiyeoba told the court that Mr Omeife revealed that, prior to his arrest, he had already used a portion of the funds he had received to develop some of the properties, acting on the instructions of the defendant.

“When Mr Omeife was asked about the money,” Mr Jaiyeoba testified, “he said: ‘The cash belonged to the defendant who had sent Mr. Eric (Ocheme).’ He confirmed he had in his possession before the point of his arrest other cash in addition to the sum found with him, but had used some of it for the development of some of the properties listed, which were on the instructions of the defendant.”

The witness reiterated that Mr Omeife received the money from the defendant through Eric Ocheme, a personal assistant to Mr Emefiele. However, he noted that a court order subsequently restricted their interactions with Mr Omeife.

Mr Jaiyeoba also testified that Mr Omeife informed interrogators that the property at 12A Probyn Road, Ikoyi, a four-bedroom duplex, was under renovation, and that part of the recovered $2 million was intended for that purpose. The witness further stated that Mr Emefiele had affirmed his ownership of these properties during the forfeiture proceedings initiated by the EFCC.

The prosecution lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), tendered Mr Emefiele’s extrajudicial statement through the witness. While Mr Emefiele’s lawyer, Matthew Burkaa (SAN), reserved his objection, the trial judge, Hamza Muazu, admitted the statement into evidence.

The prosecution also submitted the Zenith Bank account statement of Architekon Nigeria Limited. In previous proceedings, Mr Jaiyeoba had testified that the company is linked to Mr Emefiele’s wife and brother-in-law. On Thursday, the witness pointed to an inflow of over N350 million from the CBN into the company’s account between 2020 and 2022. He stated that Mr Emefiele’s brother-in-law, MacCombo Omoile, confirmed this sum represented proceeds from contracts executed for the CBN, including the renovation of the CBN governor’s residence in Lagos and NISAC officers’ quarters across the country.

Following the testimony, the prosecution requested an adjournment. Judge Hamza Muazu adjourned the case until 16 March for further hearing.

12th prosecution witness’ previous testimony on cash recoveries, suspicious contracts

Mr Jaiyeoba’s testimony during the previous proceedings on 30 January extensively covered cash recoveries linked to Mr Emefiele. He recalled that the investigations were prompted by a report to the EFCC from the Inter-Agency Task Force, led by the State Security Service (SSS).

“Several individuals, companies and government agencies were invited and interviewed and several findings were made,” he said, adding that numerous assets and cash sums were recovered and have been forfeited to the federal government. He specifically noted that “$2 million was discovered to have come from one Eric Ocheme Odo… PA (Personal Assistant) to the defendant during his tenure as governor of CBN. It was confirmed by the person who kept the over $2,045,000, who happens to be the lawyer of the defendant, that the cash we found in his possession was the property of the defendant. We found property documents and he also confirmed that the property belonged to the defendant.”

Testifying further, he said, “My lord, funds amounting to $2,045,000.00 alongside several property title documents were recovered from Zenith Bank Plc Headquarters in Lagos in the possession of one Mr Collins Omeife, lawyer to the defendant. In the course of our investigations on Collins, it was discovered that Mr. Collins Omeife had been acquiring and perfecting title documents on the instruction of the defendant.” He added that the defendant’s ownership of the assets was further confirmed by Mr Emefiele himself during the forfeiture proceedings.

He also informed the court that Mr Emefiele approved payments for contracts to several companies, including Architekon Nigeria Limited, which is promoted by his brother-in-law, MacCombo Omoile, and his wife, Margaret Omoile. According to him, the defendant approved payments for the company for work on the CBN governor’s residential house in Ikoyi, Lagos, as evidenced by an internal CBN memorandum and a contract document for landscaping at the residence.

In January, the 11th prosecution witness, Bashirudden Maishanu, an assistant director at the CBN, narrated how $6.23 million was withdrawn in cash from a CBN vault in a single day in February 2023, during Mr Emefiele’s tenure. The testimony shed light on a transaction that previous witnesses had described as being based on false claims and forged documents. Mr Maishanu detailed his role in facilitating the withdrawal, which was tagged as payments to foreign observers for the 2023 general election.

On 13 February 2024, Boss Mustapha, who served as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) under President Muhammadu Buhari, testified as a prosecution witness. He stated that former President Buhari’s signature was forged to authorize the $6.2 million cash withdrawal. This followed a testimony from a former CBN controller, Onyeka Ogbu, who said he had received written approval bearing the signatures of Messrs Buhari, Mustapha, and Emefiele for the payment. Mr Mustapha firmly stated that his signature and Mr Buhari’s were forged by those who pilfered the $6.23 million from the CBN vault on 8 February 2023.

Similarly, on 7 March 2024, Bamaiyi Meriga, a forensic expert, told the court that documents used to facilitate the $6.23 million withdrawal were indeed forged.