The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja was informed on Monday by Michael Agboro, an investigator with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), that Godwin Emefieleok, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, had given contracts to April 1616 and Architekon Nigeria Limited, which belonged to his wife and CBN employee Sa’adatu Yaro, respectively.
Multiple contracts for the delivery of electricity lines and bank cars, as well as the refurbishment of the CBN governor’s lodge in Lagos, were given to the two businesses.
Emefiele was charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission with abusing his position to sanction the payment of N99.8 million for the renovation of the CBN Governor’s Lagos home and N97.9 million in favor of Architekon Nigeria Ltd.
Agboro informed the court that Emefiele did not give himself an unfair or corrupt advantage when it came to awarding contracts to certain companies during his tenure. Emefiele is currently facing 20 counts of amended charges that include forgery, conspiracy to obtain by pretense, and obtaining money totaling $6.23 million.
The EFCC’s legal representative, Rotimi Oyedepo, led Agboro, the seventh prosecution witness, through the Monday proceedings. Agboro produced various papers, including those on company formation, contract awards, and payments for contracts involving the two companies.
The witness informed the court that, although being a Director as of April 1616, Saadatu Yaro is currently employed by the CBN as a Public Officer. Additionally, Margaret Omoyile, Emefiele’s wife, and Mac Congo, his brother-in-law, are Directors at Architekon.
He continued by saying that even though the apex bank was in existence when Emefiele was named CBN governor, Archtekon had no contractual relationship with it.
While he acknowledged that in April 1616 participated in a bidding procedure alongside other businesses and was granted several contracts, he clarified that he did not personally visit the contract locations to confirm that the work assigned to the firms had been completed.
In the process of carrying out his responsibilities at the CBN, he also informed the court that there was no proof that Emefiele had received any payment from the companies.
Judge Hamza Muazu postponed the case to April 25 to continue the trial.
