I collected $3m cash for Emefiele – Dispatch rider tells court

A dispatch rider, Monday Osazuwa, dazzled the Special Offences Court in Lagos with revelation on Friday when he narrated how the embattled former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, instructed him on different instances to collect the sum of $3 million cash in tranches.

Osazuwa, who was led in evidence in chief by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), told the Court that he had been a dispatch rider at Zenith Bank since 2001 before joining the CBN as a contract staff member in 2014.

The witness, who testified before Justice Raman Oshodi, said he was later appointed as a senior supervisor (full-time) in charge of recording and filing documents while working in the CBN Governor’s office in Lagos.

He stated that when he collected money for his boss (Emefiele), he would take it to his residence at Iru Close, Ikoyi, Lagos.

“The highest amount I collected was $1m, all in cash. Some weeks later, the businessman also called me, and I collected $850,000, $750,000, and $400,000 in cash in different tranches.

“I have never been rewarded, paid, or given anything. I was doing it out of faithfulness, and he knows it, but he never once said, ‘Take this,” the witness said.

Recall that the EFCC arraigned Emefiele on Monday, April 8, on 23 counts bordering on abuse of office.

He is being tried for alleged abuse of office and fraud to the tune of $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion.

Meanwhile, Justice Oshodi had granted Emefiele bail in the sum of N50 million.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu suspended Emefiele in June last year.

Credit: Daily News