Joseph Bakare
Prosecution Witness Seven, PW7, Eneanye Chinedu in the trial of former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele on alleged unlawful printing of new naira notes on Wednesday, January 28, 2026 told the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice Maryanne Anineh that his team carried out a thorough and nationwide investigation into the matter.
Speaking under cross-examination by defence counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, the witness, the Head of Special Duty Committee 3 of the EFCC, told the court that he coordinated the investigation team alongside other officers he identified as Buhari, Lanre, Adamu Alhaji and Ganiyu Olaibe.
Confirming that his evidence-in-chief captured the essential findings of the EFCC’s investigation, the witness stated that he did not omit any vital aspect of the investigation.
“As the head of the team, it is my duty to assign responsibilities and ensure that proper investigation is carried out. Team leaders also assigned duties to members under them,” he said. While admitting that he did not personally interrogate the defendant, he explained that other members of the investigation team interrogated Emefiele.
“I did not have any direct interaction with the defendant, but he was interrogated by members of my team,” he said.
In the proceedings, the defence counsel requested that Exhibit S1, a television news report, which highlighted the hardship Nigerians experienced during the naira redesign policy, be shown to the witness. The witness observed that the referenced video originated from News Central, a television station and had no input from the EFCC investigation team.
“I do not know the date the video was produced, and I do not know the staff of the station that made the report,” he said, adding that no staff of the station was interviewed because the video was obtained without third-party input,” he said.
Another video report on the same subject from TVC, another television station, was also played in court, with the witness also telling the court that neither he nor any member of his team interviewed the anchor or presenters in the video.
Also, a video showing former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, former Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle, and former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, was also played with the witness disassociating himself and his team from the source of the video, and simply affirmed that his team interviewed members of the public in the course of their investigation. He further affirmed that all EFCC zonal offices across the federation, including Abuja and Lagos participated in the investigation.
“The Commission has zonal offices across the country. The team visited the Central Bank of Nigeria and other commercial banks to monitor cash disbursement to the public,” he said.
A video from Arise News, a television station was also played, which featured the defendant. The witness, however, disclosed that the defendant was interviewed by the EFCC in the course of the investigation.
When shown Exhibit W, the extra-judicial statements of the defendant, the witness told the court that Emefiele made several statements to the Commission on different dates.
“The defendant made statements on October 26, 27, 30 and 31, 2023, and on November 1 and 2, 2023,” he said.
Responding to a question on whether he was aware that the defendant claimed that the former EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa briefed the then President Muhammadu Buhari on the need for the naira redesign, the witness stated that the EFCC has no power to initiate such policy decisions.
“The EFCC does not have the power to do that. What we do is investigate and offer advice. The defendant did not provide any additional evidence, whether video or audio to support that claim,” he said. This defendant’s claim is contained on page 30 of his statement.
The witness further told the court that the investigation extended to the State House, disclosing that a written response was received and duly read by him as the leader of the team.
“Yes, my lord, it was in writing. A memorandum came from the State House, and I read it,” he said.
An attempt by the defence to ask whether any executive order was issued by late President Buhari, questioning the currency redesign drew an objection from prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, who argued that the question was speculative and not based on any allegation against the late President. The objection was upheld by the court.
When the question was rephrased, PW7 told the court that he was not aware of any executive order issued by the late President Buhari in respect of the naira redesign policy.
Justice Anineh adjourned the matter till February 3 and 10, and April 1and 2, 2026, for continuation of trial. Further hearing dates were fixed for May 11, 12, 13 and 14, and June 9 and 10, 2026.