The Special Offences Division of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, has admitted additional documents as exhibits in the ongoing trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who is facing a 19-count charge bordering on abuse of office, gratification, corruption, and fraudulent property transactions involving $4.5 billion and ₦2.8 billion.

Justice Rahman Oshodi overruled objections raised by defence counsel and allowed the prosecution to tender several documents, including materials extracted from the mobile phone of John Adetola, Emefiele’s former Executive Assistant, obtained during the EFCC investigation.

The court also ordered a trial-within-trial to determine whether statements made by the second defendant, Henry Omoile, while in EFCC custody, were given voluntarily.

Lead prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), continued the examination of the eighth prosecution witness, Alvan Gurumnaan, an EFCC operative. Gurumnaan testified that investigators uncovered evidence showing that Emefiele allegedly received a total of $600,000, both personally and through intermediaries.

According to the witness, one Victor Onyedua, a CBN contractor, told investigators he paid kickbacks to the “management of the CBN” before receiving payments for executed contracts.

The EFCC tendered another set of documents linking Onyedua to CBN contract awards. Defence counsels, Olalekan Ojo (SAN) and Rasheed Gbadamosi (SAN), objected, arguing that the documents, being public records, required certified true copies. Oyedepo countered that they were original correspondences obtained directly from the source and admissible without certification.

Justice Oshodi ruled in favour of the prosecution, holding that once a document is validly admissible, its attachments are also admissible.

The court also admitted Adetola’s MI 10T phone as Exhibit I, granting the defence permission to inspect it.

Gurumnaan further read out WhatsApp conversations between Henry and Adetola, in which Henry instructed him to deliver $400,000 to “Oga”. Adetola later confirmed he handed the money to Emefiele through his aide, John Ayo, in Lagos.

Further investigations revealed that another $200,000 was allegedly handed directly to Emefiele. Onyedua reportedly confirmed paying these sums to Ayo for onward delivery to the former CBN governor.

The EFCC also tendered more correspondence between a company and the Commission, dated 24 February 2024, which Oyedepo described as primary evidence. Despite renewed objections by defence counsel regarding authenticity, the court admitted the documents as Exhibit H.

At the close of the session, the court ordered a trial-within-trial to determine the admissibility of statements made by the second defendant, following claims they were obtained under duress.

Justice Oshodi adjourned the matter to 21 November 2025 for a report on the forensic inspection of devices and to 2–3 December 2025 for the mini-trial.