The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has charged former Central Bank governor, Godwin Emefiele with stealing and acquisition of a massive housing estate and controlling billions of naira through proxy accounts.
The new eight-count charge was filed on Friday at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
In the charge sheet marked CR/350/25, the EFCC alleges that Emefiele, in collusion with Eric Ocheme (currently at large), acquired a housing estate comprising 753 units located at Plot 109, Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Abuja.
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The property spans 150,462.86 square metres.
he commission had previously recovered the estate from an unnamed former senior government official and secured a forfeiture order from the federal capital territory high court in Apo, Abuja.
Emefiele, represented by A.M. Kotoye (SAN), challenged the forfeiture but his motion was dismissed by the court.
He has since appealed the decision at the court of appeal in Abuja.
The estate has been handed over to the federal government, which plans to sell it to low and middle-income Nigerians.
Emefiele has filed a notice of injunction seeking to prevent further action on the property until his appeal is heard.
Beyond the real estate, the EFCC accused Emefiele of using corporate fronts to hide illicit funds during his time as governor of the apex bank.
The commission said he retained a total of ₦6.92 billion in suspicious accounts between 2019 and 2022.
In one instance, prosecutors allege that ₦167 million was domiciled in a proxy account at Zenith Bank in 2019.
In 2020, another ₦1.23 billion was allegedly held in the account of Kelvito Integrated Services Ltd, an account the EFCC claims was used to funnel illicit funds in collaboration with Mr Ocheme.
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By 2021, the amount in the same account ballooned to ₦2.94 billion, and in 2022, it further surged to ₦1.98 billion.
In total, nearly ₦6.2 billion was routed through Kelvito’s Zenith Bank account (Account No: 1016232915) over the three-year period.
Another front company, Ifedigo Integrated Services (Zenith Bank Account No: 1210750237), was allegedly used to warehouse ₦900 million and ₦600 million at different times.