Title: EFCC Witness: $2.04m, Property Documents Recovered from Emefiele’s Lawyer Date Published: 06 March 2026 Description: An operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday told a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting in Maitama that investigators recovered $2,045,000 in cash and several property documents from a lawyer linked to the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.The EFCC investigator, David Jaiyeola, made the disclosure while testifying as the prosecution’s 12th witness during the resumed hearing of Emefiele’s trial over alleged procurement fraud.Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), Jaiyeola informed the court that the cash and documents were recovered from Collins Omeke, said to be a lawyer to Emefiele. He proceeded to outline several properties linked to the documents seized during the investigation.According to the witness, the recovered documents included those relating to properties located at 17B Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos; a plot of land measuring 1,919.5 square metres on Oyinka Abayomi Street, Ikoyi, Lagos; and an industrial complex under construction in Agbor, Delta State.He further listed other properties as eight uncompleted detached apartments on Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi; a detached duplex on Bank Road, Lagos; and a four-bedroom duplex at 12A Probyn Road, Ikoyi.Jaiyeola told the court that Omeke explained during interrogation that the cash discovered in his possession was given to him by Emefiele through the former CBN governor’s personal assistant, identified as Eric Ocheme.“He said the money belonged to the defendant and was sent to him through Mr Eric, who was the personal assistant to the defendant,” the witness stated, adding that Omeke also admitted he had earlier received other sums which he used for developing some of the properties.The EFCC operative also revealed that following the discovery, the commission initiated forfeiture proceedings before a court in Lagos, prompting Emefiele to appear in court to show cause why the properties should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.He further informed the court that the defendant later made statements to investigators, which were tendered by the prosecution and admitted as exhibits in the ongoing trial.Jaiyeola added that during the investigation, the EFCC obtained the statement of account of Archtekon Nigeria Limited from Zenith Bank, which allegedly showed financial transactions linked to the case.Reading from the bank statement earlier tendered before the court, the witness said there was a cash inflow of N52,983,526.25 from the Central Bank of Nigeria on March 5, 2020. He added that investigators discovered that more than N350 million had been received from the apex bank, which was allegedly confirmed by MacCombo Omeile, said to be an in-law of the defendant, as proceeds of contracts from the CBN.At a point during the proceedings, the prosecutor sought an adjournment to enable him properly certify a document he intended to tender from the Code of Conduct Bureau.However, defence counsel, Matthew Burkaa (SAN), opposed the request, arguing that the defence team and the defendant had travelled from Lagos for the hearing and that the document in question had already been certified as far back as September 21, 2024.Burkaa urged the court to close the testimony of the prosecution’s witness and allow the defence to proceed with cross-examination.The presiding judge, Hamza Muazu, advised the prosecution to always ensure due diligence in its filings but granted the request for adjournment. He subsequently adjourned the case to March 16 and 17 for continuation of hearing. Attached Images: aefbc483212a2c9be8d5e379af86fac91d1393e2b58f9c6d594b05fc9edbbfb8.jpg Attached Video: None