A former Zenith Bank employee, Richard Agulu, on Tuesday told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja that he received and processed cash deposits amounting to billions of naira for former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Agulu gave the evidence while testifying as the third prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of the former apex bank governor, who is facing charges of alleged N7.8 billion fraud instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Testifying before Justice Yusuf Halilu, the witness said the cash transactions were carried out on the instructions of Eric Ocheme, whom he identified as Emefiele's personal assistant.
According to him, the funds were either deposited into the accounts of Ifeabigo Integrated Services and Kelvito Integrated Services or kept in the bank's vault, depending on the instructions he received.
During cross-examination by defence counsel, Mathew Burkaa (SAN), Agulu maintained that he merely carried out instructions passed to him by Ocheme, adding that the directives ultimately came from Emefiele.
He told the court that although the assignments involved unusually large sums of cash, all the transactions were processed in accordance with the bank's internal procedures.
"For every transaction, I followed normal banking procedures. I was given a verbal waiver by my superiors to attend to the defendant's transactions," Agulu said.
The witness, however, declined to identify the senior bank officials who allegedly granted him the verbal approval when pressed by the defence.
He insisted that his actions were authorised by his superiors and that he acted solely in the course of his official duties as a bank employee.
Following the witness's testimony, Justice Halilu adjourned the case for the continuation of trial.
The EFCC is prosecuting Emefiele on an amended 20-count charge bordering on conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, forgery, unlawful possession of property and conferring corrupt advantage.
According to the anti-graft agency, the alleged offences involve about N7.8 billion.
The Commission alleges that substantial amounts of cash were lodged in accounts belonging to Kelvito Integrated Services and Ifeabigo Integrated Services, which investigators claim were used in financial transactions linked to the former CBN governor.
The Abuja trial is one of several criminal cases pending against Emefiele since his suspension from office in June 2023.
He is also facing separate trials in Lagos over allegations of abuse of office, unlawful gratification and foreign exchange-related offences involving billions of naira and millions of dollars.
Emefiele has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and continues to challenge the allegations before the courts.
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