WorldStage– A Director in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Ali Mohammed, on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, told the Federal Capital Territory, FCT High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, that the Ministry was not aware of the withdrawal of N124.86 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
Mohammed, who testified as the prosecution witness 10, PW10, in the ongoing trial of the former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this while being led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Abbas Mohammed.
The witness said he appeared before the court because his Ministry received a letter from the investigation team concerning N154 billion said to have been withdrawn by the CBN.
Explaining his position and responsibilities in the Ministry, Mohammed said, “My Lord, the Department of Home Finance is made up of three functions based in three divisions, that is State and Public Finance, Trade Division and Banking and Other Financial Institutions. The three divisions are under me.”
He further explained that, upon receiving the letter from the investigator, he contacted the three divisions under his supervision to ascertain whether they were aware of the transaction.
According to him, none of the three divisions was privy to the transaction.
He said the State and Public Finance Investment Division was the relevant division because it oversees the CBN.
Asked what action he took after making the inquiries, Mohammed said, as a civil servant, the Minister of Finance does not pay money directly to individuals or organisations.
He said he was therefore required to write a letter through the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, OAGF, to ascertain whether the office was aware of the transaction, being the custodian of payments for the Federal Government.
The witness told the court that the OAGF responded in writing that it was not aware of the transaction and concluded that the money was a direct credit from the CBN.
Speaking on why he wrote the OAGF, Mohammed said it was the appropriate office to approach and that he relied on the response from the Accountant-General before responding to the Special Investigator.
“I responded via a memo of what has transpired between my office and that of the AGF and sought for clearance for such document to be forwarded to the Special Investigator. Subsequently, the letter was forwarded,” he said.
He said the documents forwarded to the Special Investigator included a letter bearing the logo of the Federal Ministry of Finance, which he signed, as well as an attached letter signed by the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The witness identified the documents when they were shown to him in court and the prosecution subsequently sought to tender them in evidence.
Asked about the whereabouts of the originals, Mohammed said they had been forwarded to the Special Investigator.
He therefore sought to tender certified true copies of the documents.
Defence counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, said he had no objection.
Consequently, Justice Maryanne Anineh admitted and marked the documents as Exhibits AJ, AK and AL.
While examining the exhibits, the prosecution asked the witness to explain the purpose of Exhibit AJ.
Mohammed said the import of the document was that the withdrawal of N124.86 billion was not known to the Federal Ministry of Finance.
He explained that he relied on the letter forwarded to the Ministry by the Accountant-General before signing the document.
On Exhibit AL, the witness said it was a confirmation from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation that it was not aware of the transaction involving N124.86 billion.
Referring again to Exhibit AJ, particularly line three, Mohammed read: “Accordingly, the figure under consideration was classified in the Ministry’s record as a direct debit letter by the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
Explaining the meaning of the phrase, he told the court, “Direct debit means it was withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria without recourse of any office in Nigeria. That is what it means.”
The witness further stated that, ordinarily, the Office of the Accountant-General, which was supervised by the Federal Ministry of Finance, would be directed before any withdrawal was made.
He added that the letter did not indicate that the Federal Ministry of Finance had directed the Office of the Accountant-General to make the withdrawal, particularly from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Earlier in the proceedings, prosecution witness nine, PW9, Hamisu Abdullahi, Director, banking services of the CBN continued his testimony.
The prosecution reminded the witness that during his cross-examination on May 4, 2026, he had mentioned a specific email and asked whether he could remember it. He answered in the affirmative.
He explained that the email was generated from their computer system, certified as a true copy, signed and accompanied by a certificate of compliance.
According to him, the email conveyed the directive of the then Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to recover the sum of N1.4 billion debit in the receivables account from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
When shown the document, the witness confirmed that he could identify it.
The prosecution subsequently sought to tender the email and the certificate attached to it.
Ojo, SAN, representing the defence, said he had no objection.
Justice Anineh accordingly admitted the documents and marked them Exhibits AH1 and AH2 respectively.
There being no further questions for PW9, the witness was discharged from the witness box.
Justice Anineh thereafter adjourned the matter to October 7, 2026 for cross-examination and continuation of trial.
Emefiele is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a four-count charge bordering on alleged disobedience to lawful directives and unlawful acts that allegedly caused harm to members of the public in connection with the controversial naira redesign policy.
