Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Special Offences Court, Ikeja, on Tuesday fixed September 15, 2025, for ruling on the application of former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele seeking forensic review of WhatsApp evidence in a 4.5bn fraud.
$4.5Bn fraud case on ex-CBN governor
Emefiele, alongside his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, faces a 19-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on allegations of money laundering and fraud totalling 4.5bn and ₦2.8 billion.
The former apex bank’s governor challenged the authenticity of digital messages as the court case unfolded and requested that the court permit a forensic analysis of a mobile phone used to extract WhatsApp messages presented as evidence in court regarding the 4.5bn fraud allegation.
The counsel to Emefiele, Olalekan Ojo SAN, made the application on permission to call a forensic expert to examine both the phone—identified as an “iPhone 2” and the printed conversations.
The Prosecution Counsel, C. C. Okezie, in her arguments, told the court that by virtue of the rules of evidence and practice, once evidence of this nature has been admitted as Exhibit, the court becomes the custodian of that Exhibit and retains same until the conclusion of the trial.
“That the essence of it is for the documents to remain in the actual form as it was presented before the court”.
She stated further that, the defence counsel has not stated the name of the lab, their expertise and the experience of the personnel that will examine the device.
“What is more, the Defendants ought to have presented options of forensic labs stating their competence for the court to pick from, we pray the court to nominate the Director of a forensic department in the commission to select a lab for the exercise,”she said.
“In making the order the court should direct that the examination be conducted in the presence of a person with such vast experience and knowledge to be nominated by the prosecution”.
“Also there must be proper chain of custody to ensure the device isn’t tampered with and is returned to the court upon conclusion of the exercise.”
“The duration of the forensic exercise was also not stated in their application”.
Godwin Emefiele had earlier been arraigned before Justice Oshodi in May 2025, when a prosecution witness with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Alvan Grumnaan, narrated how the former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, received a total sum of $17.1 million over three years.
After listening to both sides, Justice Oshodi adjourned his ruling on the 4.5bn fraud charges till September 15 after the courts’ annual vacation.
Previously, CASEFILE reported that the defence counsel requested leave of court to conduct an independent forensic examination of the particular exhibits presented in court.
Emefiele’s charge has since been amended to a-20 count offence bordering on alleged criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, procurement fraud and conspiracy to commit a felony.
Meanwhile, Justice Oshodi adjourned for ruling on the application and continuation of the trial of the former CBN banker to earlier scheduled dates.
