The Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, has fixed July 9, 2026, to rule on whether the extra-judicial statements made by former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, are admissible as evidence in his ongoing $4.5 billion fraud trial.
Justice Rahman Oshodi reserved the ruling on Friday following a heated legal battle between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Emefiele’s legal team regarding how the statements were obtained.
Defence Alleges Interrogation Under Duress
Emefiele is facing a 19-count charge including gratification and abuse of office, while his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, faces three counts related to unlawfully accepting gifts. Both have maintained a “not guilty” plea.
At Friday’s proceedings, defense counsel Olalekan Ojo, SAN, fiercely opposed the prosecution’s attempt to tender Emefiele’s statements. Ojo argued that the documents were involuntary, alleging they were extracted through oppression, as well as physical and mental torture, during Emefiele’s 157-day detention by the Department of State Services (DSS).
”Where the voluntariness of a statement is challenged, a video recording of the interrogation remains the most reliable means of establishing compliance with due process,” Ojo argued, citing Section 4 of the Anti-Torture Act, 2017. He stressed that the absence of such video evidence rendered the statements unreliable.
Prosecution Denies Torture, Withdraws Disputed Document
Countering the objection, the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, presented the EFCC’s eighth witness, investigator Alvan Gurumnaan. The witness testified that Emefiele’s interviews were conducted entirely in the presence of his legal representative.
In a tactical move, the prosecution voluntarily withdrew one disputed statement dated October 26, 2023, but pressed forward to tender four subsequent statements dated between October 27 and November 2, 2023.
Oyedepo insisted that the remaining documents do not amount to a confession:
- No Confession: The prosecution argued that nothing in the statements constitutes an admission of guilt.
- No Trial-Within-Trial Needed: Oyedepo maintained that because the statements are not confessional, the Anti-Torture Act does not mandate a separate trial-within-trial, urging the court to reject the defense’s stalling tactics.
Court Grants Co-Defendant Leave to Appeal
In a separate development during the session, counsel to the second defendant, Adeyinka Kotoye, SAN, successfully applied for leave to appeal a previous ruling by the court. With no objection from the EFCC, Justice Oshodi granted the application.
Following the arguments, Justice Oshodi adjourned the matter until July 9, 2026, for the pivotal ruling on the admissibility of the statements. To ensure an expeditious trial thereafter, the court also blocked out future dates for the continuation of the substantive hearing:
- October 6, 7, and 8, 2026
- November 11, 12, and 13, 2026
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