By Henry Ojelu
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.’”
He urged the court to issue a fresh directive compelling the EFCC to allow unrestricted access to the phone and its data, arguing that the commission’s refusal amounted to a disobedience of the court’s order.
But EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, dismissed the defence’s claims as misleading.
He accused the defence of introducing an unqualified expert without a verifiable laboratory or office and warned that the defence’s methods could compromise the integrity of the digital evidence.
“The defence’s expert conducted part of his analysis via a live internet connection, which breaches forensic standards. Connecting Exhibit E to the internet could cause data to auto-sync, thereby altering or corrupting the contents,” Oyedepo argued.
He maintained that the iPhone had been kept in flight mode to ensure it remained unaltered and insisted that the prosecution had no intention of blocking the examination, only that it must be done properly.
“The prosecution has never, and will never, prevent the defence from accessing the facility. But we insist that the process must be handled professionally to preserve the integrity of the evidence,” Oyedepo said.
Both Ojo and co-defence counsel, A. Kotoye, SAN, pressed the court to suspend further proceedings until the forensic report was ready, stressing that the WhatsApp chats formed a key part of their defence and proceeding without them would be unfair.
Justice Oshodi, while noting the concerns raised by both sides, directed the EFCC to file its forensic report within 24 hours.
However, he allowed the continuation of the prosecution’s witness testimony, stating that the witness had travelled from Abuja for the hearing.
The judge also ordered both parties to adopt electronic filing and service of documents going forward to avoid unnecessary delays in the high-profile trial.
The EFCC is prosecuting Emefiele for allegedly receiving gratification, engaging in corrupt practices, and abusing his office as CBN Governor.
His co-defendant, Omoile, is separately facing three counts relating to the unlawful acceptance of gifts. Both men have pleaded not guilty.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, the prosecution’s witness, Alvan Gurumnaan, an EFCC operative, gave further testimony about multiple cash deliveries allegedly traced to Emefiele and his associates.
Gurumnaan told the court that investigators had interviewed several individuals, including staff of the CBN and Zenith Bank, as part of their probe.
He presented a series of WhatsApp conversations, admitted as Exhibits P1 to P27 which, according to him, detailed repeated transactions involving large sums of foreign currency allegedly coordinated through messaging platforms.
The EFCC operative maintained that the chat records and other exhibits revealed a consistent pattern of cash movements linked to the defendants.
Following the testimony, Justice Oshodi adjourned further hearing to Wednesday October 8, 2025, for continuation of trial.
The post Alleged $4.5bn fraud: Emefiele’s phone forensic test stalled as EFCC, defence clash appeared first on Vanguard News.
