By Mike Ojo
No fewer than five firms have been linked with former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele in the latest 26-count charge of alleged fraud and corruption filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
At least four of the firms have Lagos addresses, our investigations can reveal.
The four firms are NIPCO Plc, Source Computer Ltd, Limelight Multidimensional Services Ltd, and COMEC Support Services Ltd.
The fifth firm, whose registered address could not be verified as of press time, is Adswin Resources Solution Ltd.
The EFCC arraigned Mr. Emefiele, on Monday, before the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, for his arraignment on the charge.
He pleaded not guilty to all the charges, marking the beginning of the second fraud and corruption case filed against him by the EFCC since his indictment by Mr. Jim Obaze, a special investigator engaged by President Bola Tinubu to investigate the activities of the CBN on his watch.
Emefiele has a pending prosecution at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja over his alleged corrupt activities as CBN governor, which terminated in June last year.
The fresh charges against him in Lagos include abuse of office and irregular allocation of cumulative $4.5 billion and £2.8 billion while he was in office as CBN governor.
The anti-graft agency also accused him of corruptly receiving funds, conferring advantages on associates, and allocating forex without a bid.
The prosecution alleged that he corruptly received funds from NIPCO Plc and conferred corrupt advantage on his associates, including Limelight Multidimensional Services Ltd, Adswin Resources Solution Ltd, and COMEC Support Services Ltd.
According to the anti-corruption agency, details of the 18 fresh count charges against the former CBN Governor include “Allocating forex of $2,136,391,737.33 without bid; allocating forex of $291,945,785.59 without bid; Abuse of office by special allocating of forex of $1,769,254,793.16; Abuse of office by special allocating of forex of $370,872,893.01; Corruptly received $26,552,000 from NIPCO Plc; Corruptly received $740,000 from NIPCO Plc.
He allegedly “corruptly received $400,000 from Source Computer Ltd as kickback for contract award.”
Others include that he “Corruptly received $200,000 from Source Computer Ltd as kickback for contract award; Confer corrupt advantage on his associate, Limelight Multidimensional Services Ltd to the tune of N900,216,324.21; Confer corrupt advantage on his associate, Limelight Multidimensional Services Ltd to the tune of N1,060,030,249.42; Confer corrupt advantage on his associate, Comec Support Services Ltd to the tune of N149,001,009.7
Also, the fresh charges filed include that Emefiele “Confer corrupt advantage on his associate, Comec Support Services Ltd to the tune of N151,168,458.73; Confer corrupt advantage on his associate, Adswin Resources Solution Ltd to the tune of N398,031,732.32; Confer corrupt advantage on his associate, Adswin Resources Solution Ltd to the tune of N204,992,739.51.”
When the 26-count charge was read to Emefiele and his co-defendant Henry Omoile, both pleaded not guilty to all counts.
However, the trial judge Justice Rahman Oshodi ordered that Emefiele be remanded in the EFCC’s custody.
He is to be remanded till the next adjourned date, Thursday, April 11 when the court will give its ruling on his bail application.
However, the date will have to be rescheduled following the Federal Government’s declaration of Thursday a public holiday to mark the Sallah celebration.
