A DIRECTOR in the Federal Ministry of Finance has told a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama that the ministry and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) were unaware of the withdrawal of N124.86 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
News Point Nigeria reports that at the proceedings on Tuesday, Ali Mohammed, who testified as the 10th prosecution witness (PW10) in the trial of Godwin Emefiele, former CBN governor, told the court that the transaction was classified in the ministry’s records as a direct debit by the apex bank.
Mohammed was led in evidence by Abbas Mohammed, counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He said the ministry became aware of the transaction after receiving a letter from the investigation team concerning N154 billion said to have been withdrawn by the CBN.
Mohammed said he contacted the three divisions under his supervision to determine whether they were aware of the transaction.
According to him, none of the divisions had knowledge of the transaction, noting that the State and Public Finance Investment Division oversees the CBN.
Mohammed said he subsequently wrote, through the Permanent Secretary, to the OAGF to establish whether the office was aware of the transaction.
He said the OAGF responded that it was not aware of the transaction and indicated that the money was a direct credit from the CBN.
The witness said he relied on the response from the Office of the Accountant-General before responding to the special investigator.
The documents exchanged between the ministry and the OAGF were tendered by the prosecution and admitted in evidence after Olalekan Ojo, defence counsel, said he had no objection.
Explaining one of the documents, Mohammed said it showed that the N124.86 billion withdrawal was not known to the Federal Ministry of Finance.
He also explained the meaning of the reference to a “direct debit” in the document.
“Direct debit means it was withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria without recourse of any office in Nigeria. That is what it means,” he said.
Mohammed said the OAGF, which is supervised by the Finance Ministry, would ordinarily receive a directive before a withdrawal was made.
He added that the letter did not indicate that the Finance Ministry had directed the OAGF to make the withdrawal, particularly from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Earlier, Hamisu Abdullahi, Director of Banking Services at the CBN and PW9, continued his testimony.
The prosecution referred him to an email he had mentioned during cross-examination on May 4, 2026.
Abdullahi said the email was generated from the CBN’s computer system, certified as a true copy and accompanied by a certificate of compliance.
He said the email conveyed a directive from the then CBN governor to recover N1.4 billion debit in the receivables account from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The witness identified the document when it was shown to him, while the prosecution subsequently tendered the email and its accompanying certificate.
Ojo did not object to their admission, and Maryanne Anineh, the presiding judge, admitted them as Exhibits AH1 and AH2.
Abdullahi was thereafter discharged from the witness box.
The court adjourned the case until Wednesday for cross-examination and continuation of trial.
Emefiele is being prosecuted by the EFCC on a four-count charge bordering on alleged disobedience to lawful directives and unlawful acts allegedly causing harm to members of the public in connection with the naira redesign policy.