A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to produce Jim Obazee, the special investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu, to testify in the ongoing trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele over an alleged $6.23 million fraud.
Justice Hamza Muazu gave the directive on Tuesday, expressing frustration with repeated delays in the case, after the court had already granted eight adjournments, exceeding the legal limit of five. “The EFCC is directed to make sure Obazee, the key witness, is present on the next adjourned date, April 27, warning that if they fail, the court will respond according to the law,” Justice Muazu said.
Obazee was appointed on July 28, 2023, by President Tinubu to investigate the CBN, its related entities, and other government business enterprises. He presented his preliminary findings to the President in December 2023. The investigation, which continued until March 2024, was formally closed on March 31, 2024, with all appropriate law enforcement and regulatory agencies already conducting follow-up action.
The prosecution had previously struggled to present witnesses. At the last sitting on March 17, the court fined the EFCC ₦500,000 for not presenting its scheduled witness, Deputy Commissioner of Police Elohor Edwin Okpoziakeo, who was set to testify. The prosecution said the witness had been informed but could not make it due to administrative delays and a personal legal issue at another court in Gwagwalada, where his account was reportedly under a garnishment order.
Sources familiar with the matter said the prosecution may inform the court that Obazee is unavailable to testify in the case relating to an alleged $6.23 million discrepancy linked to the CBN’s Abuja branch. However, it was gathered that EFCC officials had been in contact with Obazee, who is reportedly willing to testify if formally approached through the appropriate channels.
The $6.23 million was withdrawn in cash from a Central Bank of Nigeria vault in one day in February 2023, during Emefiele’s tenure as CBN governor. A prosecution witness, Bashirudden Maishanu, an assistant director in CBN, testified that the money was tagged as payments to foreign observers for the 2023 general election. He said an intermediary linked to Emefiele left $2.5 million for him and his friends whom he asked to go for the withdrawal of the money at the CBN branch in Garki, Abuja, on 8 February 2023.
Maishanu told the court he only realised the transaction was fraudulent after Jim Obazee, the special investigator, showed him the documents that were cooked up to facilitate the heist. “I did not know it was a fraud until he was confronted with document to show that the signatures of the then President Muhammadu Buhari, and then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, were forged,” he stated. He added, “I admitted to the special investigative panel appointed by President Bola Tinubu to investigate CBN activities under the defendant, I am answerable to the money being lost.”
Forensic analyst Bamaiyi Meriga, called by the EFCC, confirmed to the court that documents used to request the payment of $6.2 million for foreign election observers were forged. “Following forensic analysis of the disputed documents, he discovered that there was clear evidence of forgery of signature, and the seal of execution were different from the original,” Meriga said. He also confirmed that the signatures were not those of former President Muhammadu Buhari and ex-Secretary General of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.
Emefiele is standing trial on an amended 20-count charge bordering on alleged criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy to obtain by false pretence and obtaining money by false pretence. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The case was adjourned to April 27, 2026, for continuation of hearing, with the court insisting the EFCC must produce Obazee on that date.
