Wife given contracts by Emefiele, official investigator for CBN informs court.

By Anthony Beauty,

Godwin Emefieleok, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, awarded contracts to April 1616 and Architekon Nigeria Limited, which belong to his wife and Sa’adatu Yaro, a CBN employee, respectively, according to testimony given by Michael Agboro, an investigator with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC), on Monday in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja.

The CBN governor’s lodge in Lagos, as well as the provision of electricity lines and bank cars, were among the numerous contracts that were given to the two businesses

The CBN Governor’s Lagos home was to be renovated for N99.8 million, and N97.9 million went to Architekon Nigeria Ltd. Emefiele was accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of manipulating his position to sanction the payments.

During his tenure, Agboro testified in court that Emefiele did not give himself an unfair or corrupt advantage when it came to awarding contracts to certain companies. Emefiele is currently facing 20 counts of amended charges pertaining to forgery, conspiracy to obtain by false pretense, and obtaining money totaling $6.23 million.

The EFCC’s legal representative, Rotimi Oyedepo, led Agboro, the seventh prosecution witness, through the Monday proceedings. Agboro produced various papers, including those pertaining to company formation, contract awards, and payments for contracts involving the two companies.

The witness informed the court that, although being a Director as of April 1616, Saadatu Yaro is currently employed by the CBN as a Public Officer. Additionally, Margaret Omoyile, Emefiele’s wife, and Mac Congo, his brother-in-law, are Directors at Architekon.

He continued by saying that even though the apex bank was in existence when Emefiele was named CBN governor, Architekon had no relationship with it.

According to what he disclosed, April 1616 was established a few days after Sa’adatu Ramallan Yero was hired by CBN and sent to the bank’s Lagos branch.

Agboro continued, “April 1616 saw the beginning of CBN patronage with the purchase of automobiles, specifically Toyota brand vehicles, even though Agboro was not an authorized Toyota dealer.”

Nevertheless, the investigator denied discovering any evidence that Emefiele was a director, shareholder, or signatory to any account in either April1616 limited or Architekon Nigeria limited under cross-examination by Emefiele’s attorney, Mathew Burkaa.

While he acknowledged that April 1616 participated in a bidding procedure alongside other businesses and was granted several contracts, he clarified that he did not personally visit the contract locations to confirm that the work assigned to the firms had been completed.

In the process of carrying out his responsibilities at the CBN, he also informed the court that there was no proof that Emefiele had received any payment from the companies.

Judge Hamza Muazu postponed the case to April 25 in order to continue the trial.

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