Alleged $4.5bn fraud: Emefiele’s phone forensic test stalled as EFCC, defence clash.
The forensic examination of a mobile phone central to the $4.5 billion alleged fraud trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has stalled following a sharp disagreement between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the defence team over how to carry out the court-ordered test.
At the resumed hearing before Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Ikeja Special Offences Court on Tuesday, both parties traded accusations over who was responsible for the failure of the forensic process, which had been scheduled for September 24 and 25, 2025.
Emefiele, alongside his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, is facing a 19-count charge of alleged fraud, corruption, and abuse of office.
The EFCC had tendered an iPhone 12 containing WhatsApp messages as part of its evidence against the former apex bank chief.
The court had earlier ordered that the device, marked as “iPhone 2”, be subjected to a scientific forensic analysis by experts representing both sides to determine the authenticity of the WhatsApp conversations in dispute.
However, Emefiele’s lawyer, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, told the court that the exercise could not proceed because the EFCC repeatedly obstructed efforts to access the device.
According to him, despite the presence of representatives from the prosecution, the defence, and the court’s Registrar, the commission refused to produce the phone for examination.
Ojo said: “The first obstacle was that the EFCC insisted the device could not be fully exposed to the team.Then, on the second day, even when the Registrar clarified that your lordship’s order covered both the phone and its WhatsApp contents, the EFCC representatives refused to produce it when the Apple expert demanded it. We were told a categorical ‘No.’”
The forensic examination of a mobile phone central to the $4.5 billion alleged fraud trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has stalled following a sharp disagreement between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the defence team over how to carry out the court-ordered test.
At the resumed hearing before Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Ikeja Special Offences Court on Tuesday, both parties traded accusations over who was responsible for the failure of the forensic process, which had been scheduled for September 24 and 25, 2025.
Emefiele, alongside his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, is facing a 19-count charge of alleged fraud, corruption, and abuse of office.
The EFCC had tendered an iPhone 12 containing WhatsApp messages as part of its evidence against the former apex bank chief.
The court had earlier ordered that the device, marked as “iPhone 2”, be subjected to a scientific forensic analysis by experts representing both sides to determine the authenticity of the WhatsApp conversations in dispute.
However, Emefiele’s lawyer, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, told the court that the exercise could not proceed because the EFCC repeatedly obstructed efforts to access the device.
According to him, despite the presence of representatives from the prosecution, the defence, and the court’s Registrar, the commission refused to produce the phone for examination.
Ojo said: “The first obstacle was that the EFCC insisted the device could not be fully exposed to the team.Then, on the second day, even when the Registrar clarified that your lordship’s order covered both the phone and its WhatsApp contents, the EFCC representatives refused to produce it when the Apple expert demanded it. We were told a categorical ‘No.’”
Alleged $4.5bn fraud: Emefiele’s phone forensic test stalled as EFCC, defence clash.
The forensic examination of a mobile phone central to the $4.5 billion alleged fraud trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has stalled following a sharp disagreement between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the defence team over how to carry out the court-ordered test.
At the resumed hearing before Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Ikeja Special Offences Court on Tuesday, both parties traded accusations over who was responsible for the failure of the forensic process, which had been scheduled for September 24 and 25, 2025.
Emefiele, alongside his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, is facing a 19-count charge of alleged fraud, corruption, and abuse of office.
The EFCC had tendered an iPhone 12 containing WhatsApp messages as part of its evidence against the former apex bank chief.
The court had earlier ordered that the device, marked as “iPhone 2”, be subjected to a scientific forensic analysis by experts representing both sides to determine the authenticity of the WhatsApp conversations in dispute.
However, Emefiele’s lawyer, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, told the court that the exercise could not proceed because the EFCC repeatedly obstructed efforts to access the device.
According to him, despite the presence of representatives from the prosecution, the defence, and the court’s Registrar, the commission refused to produce the phone for examination.
Ojo said: “The first obstacle was that the EFCC insisted the device could not be fully exposed to the team.Then, on the second day, even when the Registrar clarified that your lordship’s order covered both the phone and its WhatsApp contents, the EFCC representatives refused to produce it when the Apple expert demanded it. We were told a categorical ‘No.’”
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