Alleged $4.5bn Fraud: Emefiele Challenges EFCC Over Social Media Evidence, Seeks Forensic Audit

Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, on Tuesday filed an application at the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, seeking a forensic examination of WhatsApp messages admitted as evidence in his ongoing $4.5bn fraud trial.

Emefiele is standing trial alongside Henry Omoile on a 19-count charge bordering on conspiracy, money laundering, and fraud totalling $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion.

At Tuesday’s proceedings, Emefiele through his counsel, Olalekan Ojo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, asked the court to allow a forensic audit of an iPhone and extracted WhatsApp chats presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as evidence.

Ojo told the court that verifying the integrity of the WhatsApp messages is “a critical element” of the defence, stressing the need for a forensic expert to examine both the device and the printed chats.

But EFCC’s counsel, Chinenye Okezie, opposed the move, arguing that the defence failed to meet procedural requirements.

She noted that Emefiele’s team did not identify the forensic laboratory, the qualifications of the expert, or the expected duration of the audit.

Okezie further argued that the evidence, having been admitted by the court, is now under the court’s custody and must remain in its current form.

She, however, offered an alternative, that if granted, the court should direct the EFCC’s forensic department to nominate a certified lab to handle the examination.

“There must be a secure chain of custody,” she said, urging that any analysis be carried out under the supervision of a prosecution-nominated expert to prevent tampering.

The presiding judge, Justice Riman Oshodi, after hearing both sides, adjourned ruling on the application till September 15, 2025.

Alleged $4.5bn Fraud: Emefiele Challenges EFCC Over Social Media Evidence, Seeks Forensic Audit is first published on The Whistler Newspaper