Ex- Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha on Tuesday told a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama, of how his signature and that of former President Muhammadu Buhari were forged by those who withdrew $6,230,000 from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on February 8, 2023.
A witness in the trial of Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the CBN, the former SGF who was linked to the withdrawal of the fund, said to have been used to pay foreign observers in the 2023 elections, told the court that he knew nothing about the transaction and that his signature was also forged.
Explaining that it was not the business of the Federal Government or the office of the SGF to request funds from the CBN for the payment of foreign election observers, but solely that of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deal with issues relating to election observers, he denied involvement in the matter.
Michael Onyeka Ogbu a CBN official, had on Monday told Justice Hamza Muazu of the court that the amount was given out in cash to an official from the office of the SGF, named Jibril Abubakar following approvals by Buhari and Godwin Emefiele resulting from a request by the SGF.
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Led in evidence by Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), lawyer to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ogbu, former branch controller of the CBN, Abuja branch identified the documents presented to him by the prosecution admitted that they the same papers he worked on adding that on January 8, 2023, a request for payment in the sum of $6,230,000 came to his office and documents for the disbursement of the money were approved by the then CBN boss in cash for international election observers.
He told the court: “My Lord, all requests for payments are usually channelled to the branch controller and that is my office. And on that day, my Lord, the request to my office was $6,230,000 and my attention was drawn towards it by my office assistant. It came from the banking services department and the memo carried the signature of the Director, Banking Services, with an instruction to the branch controller to pay the sum of $6,230,000 to a staff of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, bearing the name and identity card of the person.”