News
CBN official tells court how he collected over $3m in cash for Emefiele
Monday Osazuwa, an official of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has testified against Godwin Emefiele, a former governor of the apex bank, in the ongoing trial over alleged abuse of office.
Emefiele and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, are currently facing trial on a 26-count charge at the high court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.
The duo pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
At the court proceedings on Friday, Emefiele and Omole were granted bail by the court.
THE TESTIMONY
During the hearing, Rotimi Oyedepo, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), called Osazuwa as the prosecution’s first witness in the case.
Osazuwa said he currently works with the apex bank as a senior supervisor.
The CBN official told the court that he met Emefiele while working as a dispatch rider for the Victoria Island branch of Zenith Bank in Lagos.
The witness said Emefiele was the deputy managing director of Zenith Bank when he started working with him.
Osazuwa added that he was running errands for the former CBN governor during the period at Zenith Bank.
The witness told the court that he joined CBN as a contract worker in 2014 and was confirmed as an employee in 2015.
Osazuwa said he was employed when Emefiele was the CBN governor and was posted to his office in Lagos.
“He (Emefiele) usually communicates with me through Whatsapp. I see him when he comes to Lagos,” the witness said.
“My role as a senior supervisor is recording and filing. The other assignment, he (Emefiele) gives me, is to carry out certain messages and errands for him.”
The CBN official said he used to receive dollars in cash from some individuals for Emefiele and take the same to his Ikoyi residence.
The witness said whenever Emefiele was not in Lagos, he used to give the money to the second defendant — Omoile — at the former CBN governor’s residence in Ikoyi.
Osazuwa said Emefiele ordered him to call one Moeit every Friday to ask if there was anything for him.
He added that Moeit always directed him to meet one Raja Punjab, who always gave him dollars in cash to give to Emefiele.
“In 2020, he (Emefiele) called me while he was outside Lagos. He said he will give me a number to call a man who will give me something,” Osazuwa said.
“I called the man — Mr Moeit. He said he will give me his boy’s number. The name of the guy is Mr Raja.
“I called Mr Raja. He gave me his address. When I went to see him, I got to the place and sat down for a few minutes.
“He gave me an envelope. He brought it out and counted it. It was $100,000. He said I should give it to my boss (Emefiele).
“My boss was not around. He (Emefiele) said I should give it to Henry (second defendant).”
The witness also told the court that he was collecting dollars in cash from Punjab from 2020 to 2023.
Osazuwa said $1 million cash was the highest amount of money he collected from Punjab for Emefiele.
“$1 million was the highest amount in cash. I have also collected $850,000, $750,000, and $400,000,” he told the court.
WHO IS RAJA PUNJAB?
Raja Punjab is one of the witnesses listed by EFCC for the prosecution of Emefiele.
The identity of Punjab is currently unknown as the anti-graft agency did not disclose any detail about him apart from his name.
In the charge sheet, Emefiele’s co-defendant was accused of accepting $110,000 on behalf of the former CBN governor.
The money was said to be a “reward for allocating foreign exchange by the Central Bank in favour of Raja Punjab’s employer”.
The anti-graft agency accused Emefiele of collecting $17.3 million from Punjab on account of forex allocation to his employer.
EFCC did not mention the name of Punjab’s employer in the charge sheet.
THE ADJOURNMENT
Earlier, the court accepted the application of EFCC that the testimony of eight witnesses be heard in closed session.
The EFCC counsel told the court that some of the agency’s witnesses are scared to testify in the case because they are being threatened.
Rahmon Oshodi, the presiding judge, adjourned the case to April 29 for continuation of trial.
News
Lagos police spokesman Benjamin Hundeyin promoted to CSP
Public Relations Officer of Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, has been promoted to Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Hundeyin took over from Adekunle Ajisebutu as Lagos police spokesman in 2022 while he was Superintendent of Police (SP).
On Wednesday, he shared photos of himself being decorated by Lagos police commissioner, Ishola Olawale.
“Behold the latest Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) in town. It is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes,” Hundeyin wrote on X.
Hundeyin holds a BA (Hons) in English Language from the Lagos State University and an MSc in Legal Criminology and Security Psychology from the University of Ibadan.
He also holds a certificate in Civil-Military Coordination from the Martin Luther Agwai International Leadership and Peacekeeping Training Centre, Jaji, Kaduna.
He is an associate of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), member of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) and an associate of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM).
Hundeyin was a one-time PPRO at the Zone 2 Command Headquarters, Onikan, Lagos and was a member of the Nigerian contingent to the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Darfur, Sudan (UNAMID) in 2020.
He was the administration officer at the Force Public Relations Department, Force Headquarters, Abuja.
News
‘I am currently at my home in Onitsha’ — Obi debunks rumoured arrest in Abuja
Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in 2023, has denied the recent rumour that he has been arrested in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
On Tuesday, some social media users claimed that Obi was purportedly arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services in Abuja.
In a statement published on his X handle on Wednesday, Obi condemned the “recurrently fake news” about his purported arrest by security operatives.
The former Anambra governor said he is currently at his residence in Onitsha, adding the motive of the fake news merchants cannot be positive.
“I have been made aware of a circulating fake news about my alleged arrest. Let me state unequivocally that these claims are entirely false,” Obi said.
“I am currently at my home in Onitsha. Anambra State. Such fake News on my person has become a pastime for some people.
“Recall last year September, when I was in Rwanda, similar lies had gone out that DSS invaded my house; now, while I was in my home in Onitsha, Anambra State, they said I was arrested in Abuja.”
“The motive of these peddlers cannot be positive but let us not allow baseless rumors to distract us from the critical challenges we face as a nation.”
News
OpenAI chief, Sam Altman, debunks sister’s sexual abuse accusations
Open AI CEO Sam Altman on Tuesday denied allegations from his sister Annie Altman, who has filed a complaint accusing him of childhood sexual abuse.
“…Annie has made deeply hurtful and entirely untrue claims about our family, especially Sam,” the boss of the California startup said in a letter co-signed by his mother and two brothers, and published on social platform X.
“Our family loves Annie and is very concerned about her well-being. Caring for a family member who faces mental health challenges is incredibly difficult,” they wrote.
One of Silicon Valley’s more charismatic figures, Altman shot to global fame with the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, which ignited a race to advance AI research and development.
A prolific entrepreneur and already a billionaire, Altman, 39, has set himself the mission of developing a so-called “general” AI, with cognitive abilities similar to those of humans and which “benefits all of humanity”.
The Altman family said that they have tried to help their daughter and sister, covering her expenses and guaranteeing her “monthly financial support, which we expect to continue for the rest of her life”.
“Despite this, Annie continues to demand more money from us,” they said, pointing out that they have decided to respond publicly following Anne’s legal complaint filed on Monday, and after years of tension.
“The worst allegation she has made is that she was sexually abused by Sam as a child,” said the family.
“Her claims have evolved drastically over time. Newly for this lawsuit, they now include allegations of incidents where Sam was over 18.
“All these claims are utterly untrue.”
According to the complaint, Annie — who is nine years younger than Sam Altman — alleges the assaults took place from 1997, when she was three, until 2006.
In a report for New York Magazine in 2023, a journalist who met Annie in Hawaii described her as an artist suffering from depression and the growing rift with her family and supporting herself mainly through online sex work.
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