The witness, a Zenith Bank official, said some of the suspicious transactions linked to Mr Emefiele took place outside the normal banking hours.
A Zenith Bank official narrated to the FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Tuesday, how due process was waived for deposits and disbursements of billions of naira on behalf of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele.
Mr Agulu said his superiors, including Mr Ihekoronya, gave waivers at various times for the transactions.
The witness also said he personally took such decision in certain situations, prompting the defence team to wonder at some point during Tuesday’s proceedings why he was not on trial for possible breach of banking procedures.
The witness said some of the transactions involved moving funds between accounts within the bank, based on Mr Emefiele’s instructions, and lodgements outside normal banking hours.
Although, he maintained his innocence, he said such transactions were not in line with banking procedure but was allowed through waivers.
Mr Agulu insisted that certain situations could warrant transactions to be carried out at such odd hours, but the defence suggested he should be prosecuted for it.
Mr Emefiele served as the Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank until he was appointed the CBN governor in 2014.
President Bola Tinubu removed him from office in June 2023 to face investigations and subsequently prosecutions for alleged fraud and corruption he allegedly perpetrated in office. The ex-CBN governor is currently facing charges in different courts.
In the case that came up on Tuesday, EFCC is prosecuting him on eight charges, including criminal breach of trust, conspiracy, forgery and unlawful possession of properties suspected to be proceeds of crime to the tune of ₦7.8 billion
The anti-graft agency named Mr Emefiele’s aide, Eric Ocheme (who is said to be at large), to be involved in the suspicious transactions.
The prosecution alleged that billions of naira linked to Mr Emefiele, were kept in proxy accounts belonging to Kelvito Integrated Services and Ifeadigo Integrated Services in Zenith Bank.
According to the EFCC, Mr Emefiele kept billions of naira in proxy accounts and unlawfully acquired an estate with 753 housing units in Abuja while he served as CBN governor.
The commission already secured an order of final forfeiture of the estate in a separate case, although Mr Emefiele is on appeal challenging the forfeiture.
Mr Emefiele has denied any wrongdoing.
Mr Agulu, now a staff member of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), had detailed during previous proceedings how he disbursed funds on Mr Emefiele’s behalf.
On Tuesday, under cross-examination by defence lawyer Matthew Burkaa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Agulu reechoed some of the roles he played in the bank’s handling of transactions involving huge funds linked to Mr Emefiele.
He said he took instructions from Mr Emefiele to receive cash from Mr Ocheme and disburse them accordingly.
He said Mr Emefiele would usually convey the instructions to him through Mr Ocheme’s phone.
The witness, who worked in the banking sector for 17 years, told the court that the withdrawals made from the deposits he made for Mr Emefiele into Ifeabigo Integrated Services and Kelvito Integrated Services accounts were authenticated by the real account owners and signatories.
He added that he had verbal waivers from his superiors to attend to Mr Emefiele’s requests.
“My lord, for every transaction, I followed normal banking transaction procedures,” he said, mintaining he did no wrong in his handling of the transactions.
“I followed the steps for cash deposition but there are different scenarios for different transactions.
“There are waivers for some certain customers who can bring cash into the bank. I was not given a written approval but I was given a waiver to attend to the transaction of the defendant which was verbal from my superiors.”
The witness also said he supervised the transfer of N1.6 billion to MG Properties Limited on Mr Emefiele’s instruction through his personal assistant, Mr Ocheme
Defence lawyer, Mr Burkaa questioned why the witness did not follow Zenith Bank’s operational policy for cash lodgements.
The witness became quiet for a while and told the court, “I do not want to put anyone in trouble.”
This led to trial judge Yusuf Halilu’s intervention.
“It is an issue of fairness,” the judge said and urged the witness to speak.
Yet, the witness, bowing his head slightly, kept quiet. EFCC’s prosecution lawyer, A.O Mohammed, then told the witness, “If you cannot remember to tell the court, you cannot remember.”
