‘$600k bribe’: I had no contact with Emefiele… money was collected by ex-CBN official, says witness

Victor Onyejiuwa, managing director of The Source Computers Limited, says he never had any interaction with Godwin Emefiele during his dealings with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

On Friday, Onyejiuwa again appeared before the Lagos high court in the ongoing trial of Emefiele, former governor of the CBN.

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

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

Since their arraignment, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been presenting witnesses to support its case against Emefiele.

FIRST APPEARANCE

On May 9, Onyejiuwa appeared before the court for the first time to testify against Emefiele.

Onyejiuwa told the court that his company provided information and communication technology assistance to the apex bank between 2014 and 2019.

The witness said the CBN awarded at least five contracts to his company during the period.

He added that in 2017, the apex bank awarded an “enterprise storage and servers” contract to his firm.

Onyejiuwa said after the contract was executed, he was approached by John Ikechukwu Ayoh, a former CBN director, who allegedly said the “management needs something” from the contract.

The witness said Ayoh told him that if he did not accede, the funds meant for the contract would not be approved by the management.

He further told the court that Ayoh collected $400,000 and $200,000 — on two separate occasions — from him before the funds for executed projects were paid by the apex bank.

Ayoh had previously told the court that he collected money from contractors as gratification for awarding contracts to them based on the instruction of Emefiele.

CROSS-EXAMINATION OF ONYEJIUWA

At the resumption of the hearing on Friday, Olalekan Ojo, counsel to Emefiele, cross-examined Onyejiuwa on his previous testimony.

Asked if he physically engaged with Emefiele during his transactions, the witness said he did not meet with the former CBN governor.

Onyejiuwa said all channels of communication were through Ayoh.

“We only communicated through WhatsApp calls. I was interfacing with Ayoh. I have not met with the first defendant (Emefiele) before,” he said.

Emefiele’s counsel also asked the witness whether he confirmed that Ayoh was acting on behalf of CBN management — but Onyejiuwa responded in the negative.

Onyejiuwa said he was under pressure from his partners on financial obligations and that he had no choice but to accede to Ayoh’s request.

The witness also said he did not report the alleged request for a bribe to the police or EFCC.

After the cross-examination, the case was adjourned till July 9 and 10 for continuation of trial.