The charges, which involve sums of about $4.5 billion and N2.8 million, were brought against them by the EFCC under the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
A defence witness on Thursday alleged before the Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja that operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) attempted to coerce one of the defendants in the ongoing corruption trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, into falsely implicating him.
The witness, Nnamdi Offial, a legal practitioner, made the allegation while testifying in a trial-within-a-trial ordered by Justice Rahman Oshodi to determine whether a statement allegedly made by Henry Omoile, the second defendant in the case, was obtained voluntarily.
Emefiele and Omoile are standing trial over allegations bordering on accepting gratification, receiving gifts through agents, corruption, fraudulent receipt of property, and conferring corrupt advantages on associates.
The charges, which involve sums of about $4.5 billion and N2.8 million, were brought against them by the EFCC under the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Led in evidence, Offial told the court that he was present during the interrogation of his client at the EFCC office and that investigators repeatedly pressured Omoile to provide incriminating statements against Emefiele.
According to him, the EFCC team promised inducements, including bail and the possibility of non-prosecution, if Omoile agreed to cooperate by implicating the former CBN governor.
Offial said the head of the interrogation team explicitly assured his client that cooperation would earn him leniency, stressing that the EFCC appeared more interested in securing statements against Emefiele than in obtaining Omoile’s independent account of events.
He further alleged that the statement-taking process was conducted in a highly restrictive manner, with investigators dictating answers and preventing Omoile from writing responses that did not align with their expectations.
“On several occasions, questions were put to the second defendant and he answered, but he was not allowed to write them down because the answers did not conform to what the interrogators wanted him to say. I objected to this many times,” Offial told the court.
The defence witness narrated that after the interrogation session of February 26, 2024, EFCC officers informed him that Omoile would continue to be detained.
According to him, the following day he returned to the EFCC office only to discover that his client was being interrogated in his absence, contrary to standard legal practice.
Offial said he immediately challenged the process, an action that allegedly angered one of the officers, identified simply as David.
He told the court that the officer confronted him aggressively, leading to a heated exchange that culminated in him being escorted out of the interrogation area.
“I reported the incident to the team leader, who asked me to remain in the waiting area,” Offial said.
He added that he was denied access to his client for several hours and only saw Omoile again at about 8pm, when EFCC officers returned him to the detention facility.
According to Offial, he was later informed by EFCC officials that his client had refused to cooperate with them by indicting Emefiele and that, as a result, he would not be released.
“Later, I was told that he had refused to cooperate with them and that they were not going to release him. That was when I applied for bail from the EFCC zonal head,” he said.
Offial disclosed that Omoile was detained by the EFCC for a total of 21 days, prompting him to file a fundamental rights enforcement suit at the Federal High Court in Lagos.
He told the court that Justice Muslim Hamza, who heard the suit, granted bail to Omoile but ordered that he be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre pending the perfection of bail conditions.
However, during cross-examination by the EFCC’s lead prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), several admissions were elicited from the defence witness.
Offial confirmed that Omoile was duly cautioned in his presence before his statement was taken and that the caution was signed by his client.
He also admitted that he participated in the statement-taking process and fully understood that whatever was written could be used as evidence against Omoile in court.
When asked whether he lodged any formal complaint or petition against the EFCC over the alleged coercion and misconduct, Offial admitted that he did not.
He further acknowledged that the judge who heard the fundamental rights suit did not make any finding indicting the EFCC for wrongdoing.
Offial also conceded that, while he was present, his client was not physically harassed or assaulted by EFCC operatives.
Following the conclusion of his testimony, Justice Rahman Oshodi adjourned the matter to January 16, 2026, for the continuation of the trial-within-a-trial, which will determine the admissibility of Omoile’s statement in the substantive corruption case.