Oluwole Owoeye, a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) during the tenure of its suspended governor, Godwin Emefiele, has told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court that his embattled former boss was not responsible for making payments to contractors.
Owoeye, a deputy director, Banking Services and former secretary, Major Contract Award Committee (MCAC) at the CBN, was one of the witnesses presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday during the ongoing fraud trial of Emefiele.
Recall that after Emefiele’s suspension by President Bola Tinubu, the State Security Service (SSS), a federal government agency, charged him before the Lagos State High Court with illegal possession of firearms.
Subsequently, the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice withdrew the charges and filed new ones at the FCT High Court Abuja.
In August, the federal government (FG) instituted 20 counts of procurement fraud charges against Emefiele and a CBN staff member, Sa’adatu Yaro, concerning an alleged N6.9 billion fraud.
However, their arraignment has been delayed since August 17 due to the illness of a female CBN staff member.
They were accused of diverting public funds for personal use, including alleged purchases of luxury cars.
But in a fresh suit number CR/577/2023, the FG amended the (now N1.2 billion) fraud charges (dated November 8) to six counts, with Emefiele as the sole defendant.
During his cross-examination by Emefiele’s lawyer, Mathew Burkaa SAN, Owoeye was asked to inform the court if the CBN governor was responsible for paying contractors.
The witness’s response was that the Director of the Procurement and Support Services Department (PSSD) at the CBN had the responsibility of approving qualified contractors and that “all payments must pass through the Director of PSSD.”
The witness was asked if it would be inappropriate for a contractor who has completed their work to be paid for their services.
“It is not out of place,” the witness replied.
Murkaa further asked the witness to confirm that the CBN governor does not have the authority to unilaterally approve contracts for the central bank.
The witness said, “He does not.”
“Was the process of vetting vendors or companies to determine their qualifications the responsibility of the CBN governor or his deputy?” Murkaa inquired again.
The witness responded, “Neither of them.”
The witness further denied being familiar with the contents of the charges against Emefiele, adding that he was asked to appear in court to provide testimony on general procedures for awarding contracts at the CBN.
The court subsequently adjourned the trial until January 18 and 19.
