The Lagos State Special Offences Court, on Friday, set 9 July for ruling on the admissibility of extra-judicial statements credited to a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, who is facing $4.5 billion fraud charges.
Trial judge Rahman Oshodi fixed the date after hearing arguments from both the prosecution and the defence over the voluntariness of the statements sought to be tendered by the prosecution.
Mr Emefiele and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on charges of receiving gratification and making corrupt demands while serving as CBN governor, and alleged unlawful acceptance of gifts by an agent. Of the total 22 charges, 19 of them are against Mr Emefiele and three against Mr Omoile.
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.
At Friday’s proceedings, Mr Emefiele’s lawyer, Olalekan Ojo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), objected to the admissibility of the statements, arguing that they were not made voluntarily.
He told the court that the statements were obtained through oppression as well as physical and mental torture while his client was allegedly detained by the State Security Services (SSS) for more than 157 days.
Citing Section 4 of the Anti-Torture Act, 2017, and relevant provisions of the Evidence Act, Mr Ojo argued that involuntary statements are inadmissible in law.
“The issue before this honourable court is whether the statements credited to the first defendant were made voluntarily,” he said.
The senior lawyer argued that where the voluntariness of a statement is disputed, a video recording of the interrogation is the most reliable means of establishing compliance with due process. According to him, the absence of such a recording undermined the credibility of the statements.
Mr Ojo also contended that the prosecution failed to produce independent evidence supporting the alleged confessional statements and questioned the role of the lawyer who reportedly witnessed the interviews.
He urged the court to reject the statements, arguing that any doubt over their voluntariness should be resolved in favour of the defendant.
Responding, the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, also a SAN, who appeared with Bilikisu Buhari and C.C. Okezie called the prosecution’s eighth witness, EFCC investigator Alvan Gurumnaan.
The witness told the court that Mr Emefiele was invited for questioning and that all interviews were conducted in the presence of his legal representative.
He also disclosed that the prosecution had withdrawn the statement dated 26 October 2023 but sought to tender statements made on 27 and 30 October, 1 and 2 November 2023.
“If the defence does not want that statement, we are prepared to withdraw it. We are withdrawing it not because it was obtained through torture or oppression,” the witness stated.
Mr Oyedepo argued that there was no basis for conducting a trial-within-trial because none of the remaining statements amounted to a confession.
“There is nothing in the defendant’s statements that can be construed as an admission of the facts in issue,” he submitted.
He further argued that the Anti-Torture Act does not make a trial-within-trial mandatory in the circumstances and urged the court to dismiss the defence’s objection and allow the substantive trial to proceed.
Friday’s proceedings are the latest in the high-profile trial, which has been marked by disputes over the admissibility of evidence.
Earlier in the proceedings, Mr Omoile told the court that he made false claims in one of his statements to the EFCC after investigators allegedly pressured him to implicate Mr Emefiele, an allegation the prosecution denied.
The defence has consistently maintained that statements relied upon by the prosecution were not made voluntarily.
Earlier on Friday, the lawyer to the second defendant, Adeyinka Kotoye, a SAN, informed the court of a pending application seeking leave to appeal an earlier ruling.
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The prosecution did not oppose the application, prompting Mr Oshodi to grant the request.
“I hereby grant the second defendant leave to appeal the ruling of the court,” the judge said.
Mr Oshodi subsequently adjourned the case until 9 July for a ruling on the admissibility of Mr Emefiele’s extra-judicial statements.
The court also fixed 6, 7 and 8 October, as well as 11, 12 and 13 November, for the continuation of the substantive trial.
