Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele has asked the Special Offences Court in Ikeja to throw out five extra-judicial statements he made while in Department of State Services (DSS) custody, alleging they were extracted after 157 days of incommunicado detention and under physical and psychological torture.
The challenge formed the core of heated arguments on Thursday over the admissibility of the statements in Emefiele’s ongoing trial alongside co-defendant Henry Omoile on a 19-count charge of money laundering and fraud.
According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Emefiele allegedly received $17.1 million through an intermediary as gratification for facilitating foreign exchange allocations during his tenure as CBN governor.
The prosecution, led by Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), sought to tender statements allegedly made by Emefiele on October 27, 30, November 1 and 2, 2023. It had earlier withdrawn the statement dated October 26.
Emefiele’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), strongly opposed the admissibility, arguing that the statements were involuntary and obtained under oppressive conditions. He cited Section 4 of the Anti-Torture Act, 2017, and provisions of the Evidence Act, describing the prolonged detention as cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
“The issue before this court is whether the statements credited to the first defendant were made voluntarily,” Ojo submitted. He insisted that the absence of video recordings of the interrogations rendered the statements inadmissible as “poisoned fruits” and urged the court to either reject them outright or conduct a trial-within-trial.
Oyedepo countered that a trial-within-trial was unnecessary, as none of the statements amounted to confessional statements. “There is nothing in the defendant’s statements that can be construed as an admission of the facts in issue,” he argued. He maintained that the withdrawal of the October 26 statement was not an admission of torture or oppression.
The prosecution’s eighth witness, EFCC investigator Alvan Gurumnaan, had earlier testified that the statements were taken in the presence of Emefiele’s lawyer.
Separately, counsel to the second defendant, Adeyinka Kotoye (SAN), informed the court of a pending application for leave to appeal an earlier ruling. Justice Rahman Oshodi granted the leave without objection from the prosecution.
After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Oshodi adjourned the matter to July 9, 2026, for a ruling on the admissibility of the disputed statements. He fixed October 6, 7, 8, and November 11, 12, 13, 2026, for the continuation of the main trial.
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