Witness says he deposited billions in cash for Emefiele at Zenith Bank

A former staff member of Zenith Bank, Richard Agulu, on Tuesday told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, that he deposited billions of naira in cash on behalf of former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, while working at the bank.

Agulu, who testified as the third prosecution witness (PW3) before Justice Yusuf Halilu in Emefiele’s alleged N7.8 billion fraud trial, said the cash was usually brought to him by Emefiele’s personal assistant, Eric Ocheme.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Matthew Burkaa (SAN), the witness said he deposited the funds into the accounts of Ifeabigo Integrated Services and Kelvito Integrated Services or kept the money in Zenith Bank’s vault, all on Emefiele’s instructions.

He told the court that the former CBN governor communicated the instructions through Ocheme’s phone, adding that he received the cash from the personal assistant and disbursed it as directed.

Agulu, who said he spent 17 years in the banking sector, maintained that all withdrawals from the accounts were authorised by the account owners and signatories. He added that although he had no written approval to handle the transactions, he received verbal waivers from his superiors.

“For every transaction, I followed normal banking procedures. There are waivers for certain customers who can bring cash into the bank. I was not given written approval, but I received a verbal waiver from my superiors to attend to the defendant’s transactions. I cannot mention names because I don’t want to put anybody in trouble,” he said.

The witness also told the court that he supervised the transfer of N1.6 billion to MG Properties Limited on Emefiele’s instruction, conveyed through Ocheme.

Justice Halilu adjourned the case until November 3, 4 and 5, 2026, for continuation of trial.