A Commissioner of Police, Eloho E. Ekpoziakpho, on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, told a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja, that investigations into the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of $6.23 million from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed that the payment was made with the approval of former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Ekpoziakpho, who testified as Prosecution Witness 14 (PW14) before Justice Hamza Mu’azu, stated this while giving evidence in the ongoing trial of Emefiele on an amended 20-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust, forgery, abuse of office, and conspiracy to obtain by false pretense.
The witness, a Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special Fraud Unit in Lagos, said he previously served at the Force Intelligence Department where his duties included intelligence gathering on economic sabotage, terrorism financing, and related offenses.
Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, the witness told the court that he participated in the interrogation of the defendant alongside Jim Obazee, the special investigator who led the investigation.
“In the course of the investigation, we got intelligence on the $6.23 million that was fraudulently taken from the CBN branch in Abuja that had the governor’s approval when the defendant was the governor. We did an investigation and that was what led to his interrogation,” he said.
Ekpoziakpho further stated that investigations revealed the money was taken fraudulently, adding that some suspects interrogated during the investigation confessed, while the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) denied requesting payment for foreign election observers.
The witness also identified a document said to have emanated from the SGF and purportedly conveying the approval of former President Muhammadu Buhari for the payment.
Explaining Exhibit PD6, the witness said it was a letter forwarding the President’s approval from the SGF for the CBN to pay $6.23 million to foreign election observers dated January 26, 2023.
He further stated that the document was addressed to Emefiele in his capacity as Governor of the CBN.
“Our findings relating to that document showed that it was honored. It was treated and the money was paid. We recovered the document from the CBN where the money was cashed,” he said.
The witness also identified Exhibit PD1 as the details of the payment made in dollars, stating that the amount paid was $6.23 million on February 8, 2023.
He further described Exhibit PD2 as a memo from the Director of Banking Services, CBN Abuja, conveying approval and instructing that the $6.23 million be paid.
At that point, defense counsel Matthew Burkaa, SAN, objected in line with Section 128 of the Evidence Act, arguing that the witness could not give evidence on documents supplied by the prosecution.
Responding, Oyedepo, SAN, argued that the documents being referred to had already been admitted in evidence before the court.
“With profound respect, I have a burden and I urge my learned friend to allow me and my team to discharge our duties properly. We cannot allow the witness to give evidence without backing it up with documents. Section 128 did not prevent a witness from giving oral evidence explaining the document in line with the case before the court,” he said.
In his ruling, Justice Mu’azu held that since the documents were already before the court, the witness could be asked questions on them but could not delve into the contents of the documents.
Earlier in the trial, the witness identified the defendant and confirmed that he knew Jim Obazee, whom he described as a special investigator appointed by the President to investigate the CBN.
According to him, Obazee requested police officers from the Nigeria Police Force to assist in carrying out the assignment.
“As the officer who led other officers in the special investigation, I assisted in taking statements and interrogating persons who were complicit in one way or another. I also provided intelligence to aid our work,” he said.
The judge thereafter adjourned the matter until July 2 and 3, 2026, for the continuation of the trial.