Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, on Friday opposed the admission of a bundle of statements the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission sought to tender as evidence in his ongoing trial over alleged $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion fraud and abuse of office.
Through his lead counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), Emefiele argued before Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State High Court that the statements were obtained while he was in EFCC custody under oppressive, degrading, and torturous conditions, making them inadmissible.
Ojo maintained that the statements were not made voluntarily, alleging that Emefiele was held incommunicado for more than 157 days before they were obtained.
“The objection is predicated on the provisions of the Evidence Act and the Anti-Torture Act,” Ojo told the court.
He argued that Section 4 of the Anti-Torture Act bars the admission of any confession or statement obtained through torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
“These statements are products of acts intended to force the first defendant to say what he did not intend to say, having been held incommunicado for over 157 days in EFCC custody,” he argued.
The senior advocate further contended that the prosecution has the legal burden of establishing that any statement it seeks to tender in evidence was made voluntarily and free from any form of oppression.
“It is a fundamental requirement that any statement sought to be admitted in evidence must have been made voluntarily and not under oppression,” Ojo submitted.
The issue arose after the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), sought to tender the statements through the fourth prosecution witness, Alvan Ikoku.
While being led in evidence, Ikoku told the court that the EFCC invited Emefiele for questioning and obtained the statements on various dates, including October 26 and 27, 2023.
Following the witness’s testimony, Ojo asked the court to conduct a trial-within-trial to determine whether the statements were made voluntarily before deciding on their admissibility.
In response, Oyedepo told the court that the prosecution was withdrawing the statement dated October 26, 2023, explaining that it contained only Emefiele’s personal identification details.
With no objection from the defence, Justice Oshodi struck out the statement.
However, the prosecution opposed the defence’s request for a trial-within-trial regarding the remaining statements, arguing that they were not confessional in nature and therefore did not warrant such proceedings.
