Loading ...ABUJA, NIGERIA — A former Zenith Bank executive has given a detailed insider account of how billions of naira in raw cash were allegedly moved, vaulted, and funneled into proxy corporate accounts on the direct instructions of the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
Appearing as the Third Prosecution Witness (PW3) on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, before Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, the veteran banker, Richard Agulu, exposed the hidden operational pipeline allegedly used to process the cash.
Emefiele is currently being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on an eight-count criminal charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery, criminal breach of trust, and unlawful possession of properties suspected to be proceeds of crime to the tune of ₦7,831,002,396.
The Cash Pipeline: How Billions Were Vaulted
Agulu, who disclosed that he spent 17 years working in the Nigerian banking sector, told the court under cross-examination by defense counsel Matthew Burkaa, SAN, that the multi-billion naira cash deposits were systematically brought to him by Emefiele’s personal assistant, Eric Ocheme.
According to the witness, once the cash was delivered by the personal assistant, he would either dump the massive volumes directly into Zenith Bank’s commercial vaults or lodge them into the corporate bank accounts of two specific beneficiary firms: Ifeabigo Integrated Services and Kelvito Integrated Services.
The witness further exposed that the former CBN Governor rarely spoke directly on open lines, choosing instead to pass operational disbursement mandates through his assistant’s phone.
“While I was with Zenith Bank, I was under Emefiele’s instructions to receive cash from Ocheme and disburse them according to his instruction,” Agulu testified in open court. “Emefiele would usually convey the instructions to me through Ocheme’s phone.”
“Verbal Waivers” Allowed Cash To Move Bypassing Rules
When grilled by the defense team regarding compliance with standard anti-money laundering regulations and banking laws, Agulu insisted that he followed the physical procedures required for processing raw cash, but admitted he was shielded by high-level “verbal waivers” from his superiors.
The banker refused to name the bank executives who authorized the bypass, stating on the record that he did not want to drag other banking officials into the criminal net.
| Operational Metric / Transaction Layer | Witness Disclosures & Court Records |
| Primary Cash Courier | Eric Ocheme (Personal Assistant to Godwin Emefiele) |
| Proxy Corporate Channels | Ifeabigo Integrated Services & Kelvito Integrated Services |
| Major Disbursed Sum | ₦1.6 Billion transferred directly to MG Properties Limited |
| Authorization Status | Unwritten, verbal waivers granted by senior banking superiors |
“There are waivers for certain customers who can bring cash into the bank,” Agulu defended. “I was not given a written approval but I was given a waiver to attend to the transaction of the defendant which was verbal from my superiors. I cannot mention names. I don’t want to put somebody in trouble.”
The witness also told the court that subsequent withdrawals made from the Ifeabigo and Kelvito accounts were fully authenticated by the actual registered signatories of those companies. He further revealed that he personally supervised the direct transfer of a whopping ₦1.6 billion to a firm named MG Properties Limited, acting entirely on the instructions of the defendant passed through Ocheme.
Case Adjourned To Late 2026
Following the extensive disclosures by the former Zenith Bank staffer, Justice Yusuf Halilu subsequently adjourned the high-stakes financial fraud case till November 3, 4, and 5, 2026, for the continuation of the criminal trial.
The statement, officially signed and released on Tuesday by Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s Head of Media & Publicity, confirms that the anti-graft agency is determined to trace every single asset linked to the controversial ₦7.8 billion parallel network run during the defendant’s turbulent tenure at the apex bank.
