ABUJA, Nigeria — The Federal Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation were not aware of the withdrawal of N124.86 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria, a senior ministry official told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja on Tuesday.
The disclosure was made by Ali Mohammed, a director in the Federal Ministry of Finance and the 10th prosecution witness, PW10, in the ongoing trial of former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Testifying before Justice Maryanne Anineh, Mohammed said his ministry became aware of the transaction only after receiving a letter from an investigation team concerning about N154 billion allegedly withdrawn by the apex bank.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Abbas Mohammed, the witness said he contacted the three divisions under his supervision to determine whether any of them had knowledge of the transaction.
He said none of the divisions was aware of the withdrawal.
According to Mohammed, the State and Public Finance Investment Division was particularly relevant because it oversees the CBN.
He said he subsequently wrote, through the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to determine whether it was aware of the transaction.
The witness explained that the Accountant-General’s Office was the appropriate authority to approach because it serves as the custodian of payments for the Federal Government.
Mohammed told the court that the OAGF responded in writing that it was not aware of the transaction and described the money as a direct credit from the CBN.
He said he relied on the response before preparing a memo and forwarding the relevant documents 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,” Mohammed said.
The witness said the documents sent to the investigator included a letter bearing the Federal Ministry of Finance’s logo and signed by him, alongside a letter signed by the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The prosecution showed the documents to Mohammed, who identified them in court and explained their contents.
Defence counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, did not object to their admission.
Justice Anineh subsequently admitted the documents in evidence and marked them as Exhibits AJ, AK and AL.
While examining Exhibit AJ, the prosecution asked Mohammed to explain its significance.
The witness said the document established that the Federal Ministry of Finance was not aware of the N124.86 billion withdrawal.
He added that Exhibit AL was confirmation from the Office of the Accountant-General that it was also unaware of the transaction.
Referring to a portion of Exhibit AJ, 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 phrase, he said, “Direct debit means it was withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria without recourse of any office in Nigeria. That is what it means.”
Mohammed further told the court that, under normal procedure, the Office of the Accountant-General would be directed before such a withdrawal could be made.
He said the relevant letter did not indicate that the Federal Ministry of Finance had directed the Accountant-General’s Office to make the withdrawal, particularly from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Earlier, PW9, Hamisu Abdullahi, a director in the CBN’s Banking Services Department, continued his testimony before the court.
The prosecution reminded Abdullahi of an email he referred to during his cross-examination on May 4, 2026, and asked whether he could still identify it.
The witness answered in the affirmative, explaining that the email was generated from the CBN’s computer system, certified as a true copy, signed and accompanied by a certificate of compliance.
According to him, the email conveyed a directive from the then CBN governor to recover N1.4 billion debit in the receivables account from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
When the document was shown to him, Abdullahi confirmed that he could identify it.
The prosecution tendered the email and its accompanying certificate, while Ojo raised no objection.
Justice Anineh admitted the documents and marked them Exhibits AH1 and AH2 respectively.
Following the conclusion of Abdullahi’s testimony, the witness was discharged.
Justice Anineh subsequently adjourned the case until Wednesday, 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 allegedly resulting in harm to members of the public in connection with the controversial naira redesign policy.
Emefiele has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
