Recall that Onyejiuwa on the last adjourned date in his examination-in-chief, had told the trial judge, Justice Rahman Oshodi, that he was pressured into paying $600,000 before he was paid for a contract.
Victor Onyejiuwa, a witness in the trial of the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Ememfiele, has explained to the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja, how he paid the sum of $600,000 bribe to CBN staff for a contract.
Onyejiuwa, a contractor with the apex and the Managing Director of Resource Computer Limited, on Friday told the court that he had no dealings with Emefiele, but that the $600,000 he was asked to pay to the management of the CBN before he would be paid for the contract he executed for the apex bank, was paid to the former CBN director of Information Technology, John Ayoh.
Onyejiuwa said that all his communication with Ayoh was done via Whatsapp, adding that the first payment he made to Ayoh was $400,000 in Lagos, while the second payment of $200,000 was paid in Abuja.
The witness said that he did not get any letter of authorisation from the CBN management that he should pay a bribe for the contract that was awarded to his company.
Onyejiuwa gave the testimony in the trial of the embattled former CBN governor and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, who are currently facing trial on 26 counts bordering on abuse of office and alleged $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion fraud.
Emefiele and Omoile pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Cross-examined by Emefiele’s lawyer, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), Onyejiuwa told the court that it was Ayoh who signed the award of the contract and the completion, noting that “The first contract that was awarded to his company was N1.3bn, while the second was $2.1m,” The Punch reports.
He said that after Ayoh left the CBN, he still did other contacts with the bank till 2019, and was paid in due time, adding that no bribe was demanded from him, adding that the contracts he executed after Ayoh left the CBN were done while Emefiele was still the governor of apex bank.
Onyejiuwa was quoted as saying, “I did a new contract with the CBN, and no bribe was demanded and the payment for the contract was paid in due time. I executed the contract while Godwin Emefiele was still the CBN governor.”
Onyejiuwa, who was asked whether he had any conversation with any of the CBN deputy governors to find out if Ayoh had the authority to collect the $600,000 bribe, said, ”No, I did not”.
Asked if Ayoh showed him any communication between himself (Ayoh) and Emefiele about the delivery of the money, he said no.
Onyejiuwa further admitted that he did not have any direct instructions from Emefiele, saying, “I have never met him before; my dealings with CBN management were through John Ayoh.”
Asked if he showed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) a letter demanding a bribe, Onyejiuwa said no.
And when he was asked who the money was delivered to, Onyejiuwa told the court that it was delivered to Ayoh in his office and after the payment was made, it was an official of the IT department that signed.
Recall that Onyejiuwa on the last adjourned date in his examination-in-chief, had told the trial judge, Justice Rahman Oshodi, that he was pressured into paying $600,000 before he was paid for a contract.
He told the court that sometime in 2017, he got an ‘enterprise storage and servers’ from the CBN and after executing the job, he was approached by a senior official who told him that his payment would not be approved if he did not pay certain sums.
Onyejiuwa had told the court that “The official said there was pressure on him. I told him that our payment was being delayed. He told me that if I didn’t accede to his request, my payment would not be approved.
“After several back and forths, I succumbed to his pressure. I was able to organise the sum of $400,000 and $200,000 to facilitate payment of the contract funds. Within two or three weeks after, the payment was made.”
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that the court adjourned the case to July 9 and 10, for continuation of trial.
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