Alleged N7.8b Fraud: I Deposited Billions For Emefiele In Zenith Bank, Says Witness

The Third Prosecution Witness, PW3, Richard Agulu, in the trial of the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, on Tuesday, July 7,2026, told Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court, Maitama, Abuja, that while he worked in Zenith Bank, he banked billions of naira in cash for Emefiele brought by his personal assistant, Eric Ocheme.
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The witness, a former staffer of Zenith Bank disclosed under cross-examination by defence counsel, Mathew Burkaa, SAN that he would usually lodge the sums in the accounts of Ifeabigo Integrated Services and Kelvito Integrated Services or deposit them in Zenith Bank’s vault, all on Emefiele’s instruction.

He further told the court that while he was with Zenith Bank, he was under Emefiele’s instructions, to receive cash from Ocheme and disburse them according to his instruction. Emefiele, he said, would usually convey the instructions to him through Ocheme’s phone.

The witness, who stated that he worked in the banking sector for 17 years, disclosed that the withdrawals made from the deposits he made for Emefiele into Ifeabigo Integrated Services and Kelvito Integrated Services accounts were authenticated by the real account owners and signatories, adding that he had verbal waivers from his superiors to attend to the transactions of the defendant.

“My lord, for every transaction, I followed normal banking transaction procedures. I followed the steps for cash deposition but there are different scenarios for different transactions. There are waivers for some certain customers who can bring cash into the bank. I was not given a written approval but I was given a waiver to attend to the transaction of the defendant which was verbal from my superiors. I cannot mention names. I don’t want to put somebody in trouble,” he said.

The witness further revealed that he supervised the transfer of N1.6 billion to MG Properties Limited on Emefiele’s instruction through his personal assistant, Ocheme.

Emefiele

Justice Halilu adjourned the matter till November 3,4,5, 2026 for continuation of trial.

Emefiele is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on an eight-count charge, bordering on criminal breach of trust, conspiracy, forgery and unlawful possession of properties suspected to be proceeds of crime to the tune of ₦7,831,002,396 (Seven Billion, Eight Hundred and Thirty-one Million, Two Thousand, Three Hundred and Ninety-six Naira).
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El-Rufai Dennied Access To Medical Care, Doctor Arrested, Says ADC

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) is deeply alarmed by reports that today, officials of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) forcefully denied Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai access to medical care, arrested his personal physician and physically assaulted his wife.
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Information reaching us is that El-Rufai was billed for treatment at the National Hospital in Abuja today. But against the hospital’s advice that he would require hospitalisation in view of his failing health, officials of the ICPC insisted on returning him into custody. Protests by his personal physician and his wife led to scuffles during which his wife was assaulted and the doctor subsequently arrested.

The actions of the ICPC and the Tinubu government have for months now gone beyond the realm of law enforcement.

Their actions have become an assault on the Constitution of 200 million Nigerians, on human dignity, and on the most basic principles of justice and human rights.

The world should know today that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is holding a political prisoner in Nigeria by the name of Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai.

No democratic government that claims to respect the rule of law should deny a detainee access to medical care or prevent close family members from seeing him in flagrant disobedience of the courts, which granted him unfettered access to his lawyers, physician and family members.

Such conduct belongs to authoritarian regimes that use state institutions to break political opponents rather than to uphold justice.

This is no longer about Mallam El-Rufai alone. It is about whether Nigeria remains a constitutional democracy or has descended into a republic where law enforcement agencies have become instruments of political persecution.

As we have said since this treatment of Mallam El-Rufai began: “Today it is El-Rufai. Tomorrow it could be any Nigerian whose only offence is to disagree with those who wield power.”

The ICPC owes Nigerians immediate explanations. On whose authority was access to his family denied? Why has access to his doctor been refused despite concerns about his health? What legal basis exists for these actions? Why were El-Rufai’s wife and doctor assaulted by the ICPC operatives?

President Tinubu cannot continue to hide behind anti-corruption agencies while pretending that these actions are independent of his administration.

Under our Constitution, the buck stops with the President. Every day that Mallam El-Rufai remains in custody under these circumstances is another day that Bola Tinubu keeps criminalising political opposition instead of confronting the grave crises of insecurity, unemployment, inflation, and hunger confronting millions of Nigerians.

The ADC therefore demands the following:

1. Immediate and unrestricted access for Mallam El-Rufai to his wife, children, legal team, and personal medical practitioners.

2. An urgent review of the punitive and disproportionate bail conditions imposed on Mallam El-Rufai, with a view to ensuring that they conform with the Constitution and the fundamental principle that bail is intended to secure attendance at trial, not to inflict punishment before conviction.

3. An immediate end to the harsh, degrading and unnecessarily restrictive conditions under which he is being held and supervised, and his release from what has become a regime of political persecution masquerading as lawful process.

El-Rufai

4. Full compliance with all constitutional guarantees and internationally recognised standards governing the treatment of persons in custody.
5. Complete transparency from the ICPC regarding the legal and factual basis for every restriction imposed on him.

6. An immediate end to the use of state institutions as instruments of political intimidation, vendetta and selective justice.

Signed:

Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary, African Democratic Congress (ADC)
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Court Remands Ifoma In Kirikiri Correctional Centre Over Alleged $1.5m Investment Fraud

Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, ordered the remand of Ifoma Immanuel, Executive Director of Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited, in Kirikiri Correctional Centre for an alleged $1.5 million investment fraud.
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Investigations revealed that the defendant allegedly induced Adebisi Adebutu of R28 Holdings Limited to invest $1.5 million by claiming that the funds would be used to finance projects linked to Chappal Petroleum Development Company Limited, Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited, and Chappal Energies Mauritius Limited.

The Commission further alleged that the investment was backed by assurances that the funds would be reimbursed, alongside the payment of a $2.25 million development capital fee and the allocation of a 22.4 per cent equity stake in Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited.

The defendant and the company were subsequently arraigned on March 11, 2026, and they pleaded not guilty to the charges.

At Tuesday’s proceedings, the fourth prosecution witness (PW4), Sheriff Oluwo, while continuing his testimony and led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Iheanacho Ekele, SAN, and Babatunde Sonoiki, told the court that Immanuel approached him in 2022 to help source investors for an International Oil Companies (IOCs) divestment opportunity.

He said he subsequently introduced the defendant to Adebutu after contacting him about the investment opportunity.

The witness testified that Immanuel, during a meeting at Adebutu’s residence, presented the investment proposal and requested $1.5 million as a loan.

According to Oluwo, Adebutu rejected the proposal as a loan, insisting that he needed an equity stake to protect his investment in the event that the transaction failed.

Oluwo said the parties subsequently negotiated the shareholding structure, under which Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited and Immanuel would hold about 58 per cent equity, R28 Holdings Limited would hold approximately 22.41 per cent, while he and Chikezie Evuluchukwu would each receive 9.49 per cent.

He further testified that, following the agreement, a term sheet was prepared by legal practitioner Olaniyi Osoniyi.

Court

He, however, stated that despite receiving the investment funds, the defendant failed to comply with the terms of the agreement.

“The defendant did not fulfil his obligations under the agreement and has not refunded the $1.5 million paid by R28 Holdings Limited to this day,” he said.

The court also declined the defendant’s bail application after a medical report from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) was presented, citing discrepancies observed in the report.

Justice Dada adjourned the matter until November 16, 18 and 19, 2026, for the continuation of trial.

The judge also ordered that the defendant be remanded at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre, Lagos.
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