John Ikechukwu Ayoh, a former director at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has testified against Godwin Emefiele, ex-governor of the apex bank, in the ongoing case of abuse of office at the Lagos high court.

Emefiele and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, are currently facing trial on a 26-count charge.

The former CBN governor and Omoile pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

At the court proceedings on Monday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) presented Ayoh as the second witness in the case against Emefiele.

Ayoh told the court that he worked at the apex bank from June 2014 to April 2019 noting that he did not work directly under Emefiele.

Ayoh added that he used to report to Adebayo Adelabu, a former deputy governor of CBN, who is now the minister of power.

The witness said he was the head of procurement and support services (PSS) of the apex bank, which was vested with powers to receive bids and select successful bidders.

The former CBN director said he collected money from contractors as gratification of awarding contracts to them based on the instruction from Emefiele.

The witness said Emefiele usually sends his personal assistant (PA) — John Adetona — to collect the contractors’ kickback from him.

Ayoh said he collected $400,000 and $200,000 in cash from contractors on two different occasions and handed them over to Emefiele’s PA.

“The first transaction was $400,000 and the second one was $200,000 in cash. I was in my house when the first envelope was brought to me. His assistant was asked to collect the money,” he told the court.

“One of the vendors had a contract with CBN which involved the implementation of data storage and infrastructure.

“The first package was collected in my residence at Lekki phase one, while the second package was collected at the head office in Lagos.”

During cross-examination by Olalekan Ojo, counsel to Emefiele, Ayoh said he was under duress from the former CBN to accept gratifications on his behalf.

“No, I was under duress from my boss (referring to Emefiele). We were faced with tremendous pressure to bend the rule,” the witness said when asked about aiding the commission of a crime by collecting the money.

Asked if he indicated in his statement with the EFCC that the money was meant to influence the award of contracts, the witness said some parts of his statement implied that.

“Who told you that it (the money) is for gratification,” Emefiele’s counsel asked.

“The cash is for gratification to the governor for awarding the contracts. He (Emefiele) asked for it. He won’t approve the contract without gratification,” the witness said.

On whether he was arrested by the EFCC, the witness said the anti-graft agency invited him and was granted bail afterwards.

Emefiele’s counsel told the court that the witness must have traded being charged by the EFCC to become a witness against the former CBN boss.

INTERIM BAIL

After the cross-examination of the witness, Emefiele’s counsel sought a fresh interim bail for the former CBN governor, pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions earlier stipulated by the court.

Ojo told the court that the initial interim bail granted to Emefiele ended today (Monday), adding that the defence team has not been able to meet the bail conditions.

He urged the court to grant Emefiele another interim bail that would end on May 17.

Rahman Oshodi, the presiding judge, granted the request and ordered that Ojo swear to an affidavit to provide Emefiele in the next adjourned date.

Oshodi adjourned to May 3, 9, and 17 for the continuation of the trial.

Nineteen people were, on Sunday, burnt to death in an auto crash along the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi state.

In a statement by Jonas Agwu, its public education officer, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said the accident involved a Dangote truck with registration details NSH680YJ and a Toyota Hiace bus with registration number KMC455ZE.

According to the FRSC, both vehicles suffered a head-on collision after a route violation by the truck, resulting in an inferno.

The agency said out of the all-male 22 passengers involved in the accident, three were rescued.

“The TYT bus loaded from Kano was on its lane on the highway when the Dangote Truck driver who drove all the way from Port Harcourt wrongfully overtook a vehicle & collided head-on with the bus. The impact of the collision resulted in an inferno that burnt the victims to death,” the statement reads.

“Unfortunately, 19 people out of the 22 victims were killed and 1 injured. The remaining 2 victims who got rescued by FRSC operatives without injuries survived the crash because they complied with traffic regulations on compulsory use of seatbelt.

“The corpses of the dead victims whose lives were claimed by the crash have been deposited at Okene General Hospital.”

Dauda Biu, the FRSC corps marshal, said the agency will continue its ongoing prosecution of drivers “who by their actions cause road traffic crashes in Nigeria”.

Biu further called on the judiciary and leadership of transport unions and other relevant stakeholders in the road transportation sector to join hands with the corps to ensure speedy and effective prosecution of offenders.

A man, simply identified as Azeez, has allegedly jumped into the lagoon in Lagos and drowned while trying to evade arrest for stealing some bags of cement.

The Spokesperson of the Police Command in Lagos, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed this on Sunday.

Hundeyin said that the Director in charge of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) operations in Lagos Central, (name not mentioned), reported the case to Ikoyi Police Division on Friday at about 12.20 p.m.

Hundeyin said that the director reported that at about 10.45 a.m. on Friday, he received a call that there was an incident at Lekki/Ikoyi Link Bridge.

According to him, on getting to the scene, he met a large crowd gathered by the waterside, watching the lifeless body of a man who had drowned.

“The deceased was later identified as Azeez. He was later confirmed dead by paramedics of Pre Hospital Care, Lagos.

“It was discovered that one Elijah Amos, the seller of the cement, was pursuing the deceased before he jumped into the Lagoon because he was alleged to have stolen some bags of cement,” Hundeyin said.

Hundeyin said that the scene was visited by the police, while the corpse had been evacuated to Mainland General Hospital Mortuary, Yaba, for autopsy and preservation.

He added that an investigation into the case was in progress.