The trial of former Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele resumed on Wednesday at the Lagos High Court in Ikeja, featuring testimony from Ifeoma Ogbonnaya, a business relationship manager at Zenith Bank plc.
Continuing her testimony from the previous day, Ogbonnaya stated that there was no connection between Godwin Emefiele and the companies involved. Under cross-examination by Emefiele’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, she confirmed that neither Emefiele nor his wife were signatories to the three accounts in question, belonging to Limelight Multidimensional Services Ltd, Comec Support Services Ltd, and Andswin Resources Ltd.
Ogbonnaya reiterated that transactions involving these companies required approval from Mrs. Margaret Emefiele. She detailed that Mrs. Emefiele provided instructions through phone calls, WhatsApp chats, and official emails. “I saved Mrs. Emefiele’s number as ‘Margo’ on my phone. She has several numbers, but I can only recall her foreign number, which is +447941835451,” she testified.
She explained that while instructions to banks are typically written, she had reviewed the account openings of the three companies before her court appearance. She confirmed that neither Emefiele nor his wife appeared as shareholders or signatories on the corporate accounts.
Ogbonnaya identified the shareholders of Limelight Multidimensional Ltd as Mr. Stephen Ogwa, Patricia Essan, Bruce Olotu, Agustina Omoile, Oriekose Agustina, and Ibrahim Oluwadamilare, noting that Bruce Olotu held the largest share of 600,000.
“I did not come across any document in the account opening package indicating that Mrs. Emefiele is a direct beneficial owner of the corporate accounts of the companies,” Ogbonnaya added. She also mentioned that banks have regulatory requirements for collecting information on beneficial owners of corporate accounts through the Know Your Customer (KYC) platform, although she was not involved in the initial account openings.
Upon taking over from the previous relationship officer, Ogbonnaya continued the established relationship management practices. She confirmed to the court that Zenith Bank adhered to guidelines for deposit and withdrawal transactions, with financing risk assessment forming part of the KYC process.