The Federal Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation were not aware of a N124.86 billion withdrawal from the Central Bank of Nigeria, a witness told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja on Tuesday.
A Director in the Ministry of Finance, Ali Mohammed, made the disclosure while testifying as the 10th prosecution witness, PW10, in the trial of former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Abbas Mohammed, the witness said the ministry became aware of the transaction after receiving a letter from an investigation team concerning a larger sum of N154 billion allegedly withdrawn by the apex bank.
Mohammed, who oversees the Ministry’s Department of Home Finance, said he contacted the three divisions under his supervision to determine whether they had knowledge of the transaction.
According to him, none of the divisions was aware of the withdrawal.
He identified the State and Public Finance Investment Division as the relevant unit because of its responsibility for matters relating to the CBN.
The witness said he subsequently wrote through the Permanent Secretary to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to establish whether the government’s payments office had any record of or knowledge of the transaction.
He told the court that the OAGF responded that it was not aware of the withdrawal and indicated that the funds represented a direct credit from the CBN.
Mohammed said the response formed the basis of his subsequent communication to the Special Investigator handling the matter.
He explained that the documents forwarded to the investigator included a letter from the Ministry of Finance and a response signed by the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The prosecution tendered certified true copies of the documents after the defence, led by Olalekan Ojo, SAN, raised no objection.
Justice Maryanne Anineh admitted the documents and marked them as Exhibits AJ, AK and AL.
While explaining the significance of Exhibit AJ, Mohammed told the court that it established that the Federal Ministry of Finance had no knowledge of the N124.86 billion withdrawal.
He also explained a reference in the document which described the transaction as a “direct debit letter by the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
According to him, a direct debit in this context meant that the funds were withdrawn from the CBN without recourse to another government office.
The witness further stated that withdrawals of such nature would ordinarily require direction to the Office of the Accountant-General, particularly where the Consolidated Revenue Fund was involved.
He said there was no indication in the documents that the Ministry of Finance had directed the Accountant-General’s Office to make the withdrawal.
Earlier, another prosecution witness, Hamisu Abdullahi, the CBN Director of Banking Services, completed his testimony before the court.
During the proceedings, Abdullahi identified an email generated from the CBN’s computer system relating to a directive allegedly issued by the then CBN governor to recover N1.4 billion in the receivables account from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The prosecution tendered the email and its certificate of compliance after the defence indicated that it had no objection.
Justice Anineh admitted the documents as Exhibits AH1 and AH2.
Following the completion of Abdullahi’s testimony, the witness was discharged.
The court subsequently adjourned the case to October 7, 2026, for cross-examination and continuation of the trial.
Emefiele is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on a four-count charge bordering on alleged disobedience to lawful directives and unlawful acts linked to the controversial naira redesign policy.
