Emefiele in trouble as dispatch rider tells court how he collected Dollars in cash for ex-CBN gov

A dispatch rider, Monday Osazuwa, has narrated how he collected the sum of $3m cash in tranches for the embattled former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele.

Osazuwa alleged that Emefiele instructed him to collect the money on different occasions.

He stated while being led in evidence in chief by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN) before the Special Offences Court in Lagos on Friday, April 12, The Punch reports.

He told the court that he joined Zenith Bank as a dispatch rider in 2001 while Emefiele was the managing director of the bank.

How Emefiele used to send me to collect dollars for him

Osazuwa said he joined the CBN as a contract staff member in 2014 and was later appointed as a senior supervisor (full-time).

As reported by TheCable, he said he was in charge of recording and filing documents while working in the CBN Governor’s office in Lagos.

“I could recall that, in 2020, when he was outside Lagos, Emefiele called me and gave me a number that a man had something I would collect from him, and that the man would give me the number of another person.

“When I got to the man’s office, I was given an envelope. I counted the money (in it), and was told to give it to my boss.”

Where I take dollars I collect for Emefiele

He further stated that any time Emefiele was not around, he gave the money to the second defendant, Henry Omoile on the order of the former CBN governor.

The dispatch rider narrated how to take the money to Emefiele’s residence at Iru Close, Ikoyi, Lagos.

He told Justice Raman Oshodi while standing as a witness that Emefiele usually collected money alone whenever he was in Lagos.

He also narrated how Emefiele sent him to MINL Limited in Isolo when he was with Zenith Bank to collect cheques which the defendant would later lodge into the account of Dummies Oil and Gas.

“I did not keep a record of the transactions, because he instructed me that I should collect the money and bring it to his house.

“The highest amount I collected was $1m, all in cash. Some weeks later, the businessman also called me, and I collected $850,000, $750,000, and $400,000 in cash in different tranches."