An investigator for Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told an Abuja court on Monday that forensic analysis confirmed the signatures of late former President Muhammadu Buhari and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, were forged to authorise the withdrawal of $6.23 million from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the guise of funding foreign election observers for the 2023 general elections.
Chinedu Eneanya, an EFCC Assistant Commander, testified before Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama as the 13th prosecution witness in the trial of former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, who faces an amended 20-count charge of criminal breach of trust, forgery, abuse of office, and conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence.
Eneanya told the court that five CBN officers signed the internal memo authorising the release of the funds, none of whom is currently standing trial alongside Emefiele, though all have since been suspended by the apex bank.
The testimony took a notable turn during cross-examination. Defence counsel Matthew Burkaa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, pressed the witness on why forensic analysis was not conducted on Emefiele’s own signature, despite the former governor’s claim that his signature was also forged by those responsible. The witness confirmed no such examination was carried out.
Burkaa also drew attention to earlier assurances from the prosecution that it was calling its final witness, and applied for the EFCC’s case to be foreclosed if it failed to produce its two remaining witnesses, identified as Jim Obessa and Commissioner of Police Eloho Okpozikbo, at the next hearing. Prosecution counsel Rotimi Oyedepo, also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, told the court the witnesses were outside its jurisdiction in Benin and Lagos, and that subpoenas were yet to be obtained.
Justice Muazu directed both parties to defer arguments on the foreclosure application until final addresses and ordered the prosecution to work with the court registrar to secure the subpoenas. The trial was adjourned to Tuesday, April 28, 2026.
