A Director in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Ali Mohammed, has told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, that the ministry was unaware of the withdrawal of ₦124.86 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria during the tenure of former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele.
Mohammed, who testified as the 10th prosecution witness in Emefiele’s ongoing trial, gave the evidence on Tuesday while being led by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s counsel, Abbas Mohammed.
The witness said the Ministry of Finance became aware of the transaction after receiving a letter from an investigation team concerning about ₦154 billion allegedly withdrawn by the CBN.
He explained that he subsequently contacted the three divisions under his Department of Home Finance to establish whether they had any knowledge of the transaction.
According to Mohammed, the divisions, which include State and Public Finance, Trade and Banking and Other Financial Institutions, had no information about the withdrawal. He noted that one of the divisions was responsible for matters involving the CBN.
Mohammed also said he wrote, through the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to determine whether it was aware of the transaction.
He told the court that the Accountant-General’s office responded that it was also unaware of the withdrawal and classified the transaction as a direct debit from the CBN.
Explaining the term “direct debit”, Mohammed said it meant the money was withdrawn by the CBN without recourse to any other government office.
The witness further told the court that withdrawals of that nature would ordinarily require direction from the appropriate authorities, including the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Finance.
He said the documents before the court did not show that the Finance Ministry had directed the Accountant-General’s office to make the withdrawal, particularly from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The prosecution tendered correspondence between the Finance Ministry and the Accountant-General’s office as evidence. Emefiele’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, did not object to the documents being admitted.
Justice Maryanne Anenih subsequently admitted the documents and marked them as exhibits.
The evidence followed earlier testimony by Hamisu Abdullahi, a CBN director, who told the court in May that ₦124.86 billion had been withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Account without approval from the National Assembly. He said the money was used to settle the CBN’s internal debts.
Emefiele is facing a four-count charge brought by the EFCC involving alleged disobedience to lawful directives and unlawful acts connected to the controversial 2022 naira redesign policy.
The allegations remain before the court, and Emefiele has not been convicted in the case.
The court adjourned proceedings until Wednesday, October 7, for the defence to cross-examine Mohammed and for continuation of the trial.
AbdulBasit Saba is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, business, and public affairs.
