Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Special Offences Court, Ikeja on Wednesday fixed October 9, 2025 to rule on whether the crucial digital evidence presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC operatives, Alvan Grumnaan will be accepted in the trial of former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.
Grumnaan is an eighth prosecution witness currently testifying in the ongoing trial of the former CBN Governor.
The court adjourned the trial after arguments by the counsel representing the parties over the authenticity and certification of crucial digital evidence, said to have been been printed as documentary evidence from Mr. John Adetola, a former Executive Assistant to the former Governor.
Testifying, the EFCC lead investigator Grumnaan detailed the digital trail uncovered during the investigation regarding WhatsApp conversations between key individuals in the case.
According to the witness while being led in evidence-in-chief, revealed acronym “PCS” found in the chats, stating that one “Piece” was a code signifying a unit of $1,000.
Further analysis of the mobile phone of the former Executive Assistant allegedly unveiled chats with one Mr. Eric Eboh, in which instructions were given to deliver $400,000 “for Oga.”
Some documents dated February 13, 14, and 15, 2024 were admitted as evidence without objection, however a bundle of subsequent documents extracted from Adetola’s phone were contested over its authenticity and certification.
The Defence Counsel for the first and second defendants, Olalekan Ojo, SAN and Kazeem Gbadamosi, SAN, respectively, objected to their admissibility, citing inadequate compliance with Evidence Act.
Ojo argued that the document which was electronically generated required it to be tendered as a Certified True Copy, CTC, in line with Section 84 of the Evidence Act, as it wasn’t generated by John Adetola but by the EFCC through its officers.
But counsel to the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo countered that the document required no certification, as the witness only testified as to the originality of the equipment used to generate it.
He explained that the document in question is a facility of the EFCC and anyone who is familiar with the device or computer can give evidence on it.
Oyedepo said, “It is a primary evidence of a private conversation between two people contained in a device, the real document is what was endorsed by Mr. Adetola.
“There is no alteration, the handwritten portion of the document, being opposed to by the defence doesn’t alter the contents and so should be admitted for the court to evaluate it, as It is relevant to the fact in issue and forms the basis of counts 18 to 20 in the charge sheet.”
Gurumnaan testified that Adetola confirmed receiving and delivering the specified amount, adding that efforts to trace and interview the reportedly elusive Mr. Eric Eboh are ongoing.
Recall that Emefiele is standing trial over a 19-count charge filed by the agency on allegations of money laundering and fraud totalling 4.5bn dollars and ₦2.8 billion.
