Nnamdi Offia, counsel to Henry Omoile, co-defendant of Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has alleged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) asked his client to provide incriminating evidence against Emefiele.
Offia made the allegation on Thursday at the special offences court in Ikeja, Lagos, while testifying as a defence witness in the trial-within-trial ordered in Omoile’s case.
Recall that Emefiele is currently facing a 19-count charge relating to alleged receipt of gratification and corrupt demands, while Omoile is answering to three counts bordering on unlawful acceptance of gifts by a public officer.
The prosecution had earlier told the court that a witness routinely collected cash in dollars from some individuals on Emefiele’s instructions and handed the funds to Omoile.
On October 9, 2025, Rotimi Oyedepo, EFCC counsel, sought to tender Omoile’s extra-judicial statements, but Kotoye Adeyinka, his lawyer, objected on the grounds that the statements were not made voluntarily.
Ramon Oshodi, the trial judge, consequently ordered a trial-within-trial to determine whether the statements were obtained under duress.
In December 2025, Alvan Gurumnaan, an EFCC operative, told the court that Omoile was not forced to make any statement.
At the resumed hearing, Offia told the court that EFCC investigators restricted his client during interrogation on February 26, 2024, and did not allow him to freely respond to questions.
He said he was absent when Omoile was interrogated the following day and that his objections to the process later led to a confrontation with an EFCC officer identified as David.
Offia further alleged that investigators offered his client bail and freedom from prosecution if he agreed to implicate Emefiele.
“On several occasions, questions were put to the second defendant (Omoile), and he answered, but he was not allowed to write them down because the answer did not conform to what the interrogators wanted him to say. I objected to this many times,” he said.
“The sessions of 26 February 2024 ended with the investigative officers telling me they would be detaining him because they were not done with him.
“On February 27, 2024, I met the second defendant while being interrogated by the team, and I questioned why the interrogation was being conducted behind me.
“One David challenged me, asking what right I had to question the manner in which the questions were being taken from the defendant. Tempers rose, and David walked me out of the premises.
“I was taken aback and reported the incident to the head of the team, who told me not to worry and advised me to sit in the waiting area.
“I was not allowed to provide my services to my client until about 8pm, when he was taken back to the detention centre.
“Later, I was told that he had refused to cooperate with them, and they are not going to release him. It was at that point that I applied for the defendant’s bail to the zonal head of the EFCC.
“The defendant was detained for 21 days. I later filed a fundamental rights case at the federal high court in Lagos, and the judge, Justice Muslims Hamza, granted him bail but ordered that he be remanded in Ikoyi Correctional Centre until he perfects the bail conditions.”
During cross-examination, Oyedepo asked whether Offia lodged any formal complaint or petition over the alleged conduct of the investigators, to which he replied in the negative.
Offia also told the court that the judge who heard the fundamental rights suit did not indict the EFCC for misconduct and that his client was never harassed in his presence.
The judge adjourned further hearing in the case to January 16.