Monday Osasuwa, an employee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), testified in the Ikeja Special Offences Court about his involvement in a cash collection operation directed by the former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele.
During the proceedings, Osasuwa, led by Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), disclosed that he had been a dispatch rider at Zenith Bank in 2001 before transitioning to the CBN as a senior supervisor in 2014.
Osasuwa recounted that Emefiele served as the Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc during his tenure as a dispatch rider at the institution. He further stated that he had a professional relationship with Emefiele during his time at Zenith Bank and subsequently followed him to the CBN.
Upon joining the CBN, Osasuwa assumed the role of a senior supervisor in charge of recording and filing documents within the governor’s office in Lagos.
“I was still working in the CBN governor’s office while I was appointed as a full staff member and we usually communicated through Whatsapp and email,” he said.
“I function as a senior supervisor, recording and filing with other official roles.
“I recall that in 2020, when he was outside Lagos, he called me that he would give me a number that a man had something I should collect from him and that the man would give me the number of another person.
“When I got to the man’s office, I was given an envelope. I counted the money and the man said I should give it to my boss.”
The witness further told the court that the first defendant used to collect money by himself anytime he was in Lagos but anytime the defendant was not around, he would tell him to give the money to the second defendant.
Mr Osasuwa added that Emefiele sent him to MINL Ltd. when he was with Zenith Bank.
