EFCC WITNESS ADMITS THAT EMEFIELE’s WIFE IS NOT THE BENEFICIAL OWNER OF CBN CONTRACTORS /COMPANIES.
At the resumed hearing of the Emefiele case at Lagos High Court Presided over by Justice ABDULRAHMAN Oshodi, the EFCC presented Mrs Ifeoma Ogbonnaya , a graduate of Archeology and Tourism and an account officer at Zenith Bank who was asked by Olalekan Ojo(SAN) ; the counsel to the defendant if the bank, in compliance with regulatory requirements, obtained the documents and/ or board resolution designating Mrs Emefiele as a beneficial owner of the accounts of Limelight, Comec , and Answin limited. She confirmed that Zenith Bank did not obtain any documents designating Mrs Emefiele as a beneficial owner of accounts in question. The witness was further asked if Mrs Emefiele was named in the account opening mandate to sign banking instructions on the accounts that constitute the subject matter of this charge. She responded that one Madam Augustina is the signatory and NOT Mrs Emefiele. She was also asked if Customer instructions to honour transactions on an account should normally be in writing. She confirmed that they are always in writing. She was asked to confirm that the instructions the banks must honour are those given by the account holder and none other. She was further asked if Zenith Bank follows laid down banking regulations in honouring instructions from its customers. She confirmed yes . She was now given the account opening package of Limelight limited beginning from pages 3 to 48 to confirm the signatories of the company. She confirmed that the signatories are Stephen Ogwa and Patricia Esan. She was also asked who the shareholders of Limelight Limited are in the Corporate Affairs Commission documents. Her response was Omoile Augustina Onuwa and Oriekose Augustina and Ibrahim Taofeek. She was asked to confirm that from what she read , Mrs Emefiele is not a Shareholder. She was asked if Mrs Emefiele was a director in the company. She said that Margaret Emefiele is not a director. She was also asked to confirm if Godwin I Emefiele is a Shareholder or Director of Limelight limited. She confirmed that Godwin Emefiele is neither a Shareholder nor Director of Limelight limited. As regards the second company known as Andswin limited, she was given the account mandate of the company on pages 69 to 74 of the exhibit A. She was asked to state the names of the signatories to the account. She answered that the sole signatory is Tina Oroekose. She was now asked if Mrs Margaret Emefiele appear either as Shareholder or Director. She confirmed that Mrs Emefiele is not a Shareholder or Director of the company. She was shown the account opening documents to confirm that the photographs of the signatories. She confirmed that none of the photographs show those of Mrs Emefiele and Mr Godwin Emefiele. She was asked if she ever attended any board and / or Management meetings of these companies. She said NO. She was asked if she who is the controlling shareholder of Limelight limited . She answered Oriekose Augustina. For Comec limited, she confirmed that the controlling shareholder is Olotu Augustina. Having looked through Exhibit A . She was asked to confirm if there is any document that shows the names of Margaret Emefiele and Godwin Emefiele as either shareholders/ Directors or account signatories to the accounts of the Companies. Her answer was NO. She was asked if she had any inkling that the account documentation had been altered? She said No. she was asked if Godwin Emefiele authorised any transactions in the accounts. She said No. she was asked if she came across any documents showing that the shares of any of the three companies were being held in trust for Margaret Emefiele and/ or Godwin Emefiele. She answered NO. The witness was now shown Pages 96 to 101 of exhibit A. She was asked to confirm that there were credit inflows into Andswin limited of N13.504m , she confirmed that the narration did not show the money came from CBN. She also confirmed that another N16m and N14m did not come from the CBN. She was also asked if she recalled making statements before officials of EFCC. She confirmed yes and that she actually 3 or 4 statements. She was asked to confirm that she made the statements when the facts were fresh in her memory. She confirmed Yes. She was asked to confirm that the phone number she dictated to the court is the same as she stated in her statement. She said she couldn’t remember. Lekan Ojo. SAN asked the witness to confirm that the statements shown her were hers. She confirmed Yes. The witness was asked if Godwin Emefiele was in any way a beneficiary of any of funds in the bank statements of the companies under question. She answered NO.
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