Alex Enumah in Abuja
Justice Maryanne Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Thursday, permitted two witnesses of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in the trial of former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to give their testimonies via Zoom or any other live audio-visual links of communication.
The judge’s permission was sequel to an unopposed application by the anti-graft agency.
Emefiele is standing trial on a four-count charge of embarking on the redesigning of the Naira in 2022, without the approval of the President and the Board of Directors (BoD).
The court had last week adjourned to October 17, for continuation of trial, after the end of cross examination of the 4th Prosecution Witness (PW4), Mr. Edward Adamu, a former Deputy Governor, Corporate Services.
When the matter came up on Thursday, the anti-graft agency, represented by Mr. A. O. Mohammed, informed the court that the next two witnesses it intends to call are based in the United States of America.
“The matter is slated for continuation of trial however, we ran into a little issue in trying to bring down our witnesses, who are currently in the US.“On that basis, we filed a motion seeking the court’s indulgence to take the oral evidence of the two witnesses via Zoom or any live audio-visual devices “, Mohammed said.
Responding, Emefiele’s lawyer, Mr. Hakeem Labi-Lawal said: “We have no opposition to the motion but like to confirm from the prosecution, if this are the only witnesses left in the case “.
Mohammed explained that the prosecution still has more witnesses but are calling on the two witnesses in line with their plans for conducting the trial.Also, when asked by the judge how the commission plans to achieve its goal since the court does not have the facility for live audio-visual facilities, Mohammed assured that the media team of the commission will handle it.
However, since there was no objection, Justice Anenih subsequently granted the application as prayed and adjourned till November 14, for continuation of trial.
Recall that the EFCC had on May 15, arraigned Emefiele on a four-count charge before Justice Maryanne Anenih of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting in Maitama, Abuja.
Emefiele however denied the charge and was admitted to bail in the sum of N300 million.
In the four-count charge, the anti-graft agency claimed that Emefiele embarked on the naira redesign without the approval of the Board of the CBN as well as then President, Muhammadu Buhari.
Specifically, the EFCC is accusing Emefiele of approving the printing of various quantities of the new Naira notes “without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence”.
