Court fixes September 15 to rule on Emefiele’s application
Justice Rahman Oshodi of a Lagos Special Offences Court docket, Ikeja, has mounted September 15 for ruling on the applying filed by the embattled historical Central Monetary institution of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, seeking a forensic overview of WhatsApp evidence in a $4.5 billion alleged fraud case.
Emefiele is appealing the authenticity of digital messages supplied by the prosecution in an ongoing trial ahead of the court. He requested that the court enable a forensic diagnosis of a cell phone frail to extract WhatsApp messages, which comprise been supplied as evidence in court.
The counsel representing Emefiele, Mr Olalekan Ojo (SAN), made the applying for permission to call a forensic knowledgeable to request both the phone acknowledged as an “iPhone 2” and the printed conversations.
The prosecution counsel, Chineye Okezie, in her submission, argued that by the guidelines of evidence and note, once evidence of this nature has been admitted as Display cloak, the court becomes the custodian of that Display cloak and retains the same unless the conclusion of the trial.
She mentioned that the essence of it's for the paperwork to remain within the categorical originate.
She additional suggested the court that the defence counsel had no longer acknowledged the establish of the lab, its skills, or the skills of the personnel who would request the machine.
She mentioned, “What is more, the defendants should always comprise supplied alternatives of forensic labs citing their competence for the court to bewitch from. We pray that the court nominate the director of the forensic division within the associated rate to make a various a lab for the exercise.
“In making the expose, the court might possibly presumably well mute instruct that the examination be conducted within the presence of a particular person with such monumental skills and info to be nominated by the prosecution.
“Also, there should always be a right chain of custody to guarantee the machine isn’t tampered with and is returned to the court upon conclusion of the exercise. The duration of the forensic exercise modified into also no longer acknowledged of their application”.
Alternatively, Emefiele, alongside his co-accused Henry Omoile, are standing trial on a 19-depend tag brought in opposition to them by the Economic and Monetary Crimes Fee (EFCC), on allegations of cash laundering and fraud totalling $4.5 billion and ₦2.8 billion.
The court subsequently adjourned the subject to September 15, 2025, for ruling on the applying.
