An investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Alvan Gurumnaan, has told a Lagos court that Godwin Emefiele, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), used associates, including a lawyer, to acquire multi-billion-naira properties while he was in office. The testimony was given on Thursday, November 12, 2026, at the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja.
The properties named in court sit in four places: Lagos, Delta, Ogun and Abuja. Some have already been forfeited to the Federal Government following earlier court orders. The allegations have not been proven, and Mr Emefiele has pleaded not guilty.
What the EFCC investigator told the court
Mr Gurumnaan testified before Justice Rahman Oshodi. He was led in evidence by EFCC counsel Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, and said the special operations team he headed recorded Mr Emefiele’s statement. He is the seventh prosecution witness in the trial.
His central claim was that the properties went well beyond what a CBN governor’s legitimate income could pay for. He told the court that the assets in Lagos, Ogun, Delta and Abuja far exceeded Mr Emefiele’s lawful earnings. To get around that gap, he said, the former governor put assets in other people’s hands.
He added that several court judgments had already gone the EFCC’s way, forfeiting assets valued at hundreds of billions of naira.
One name stood out in the testimony: a lawyer, Ifeanyi Omeke. The witness said $2 million in cash was recovered from Omeke’s office. He claimed Omeke admitted to investigators that he acted as a front for Mr Emefiele and served as secretary to several of the former governor’s companies.
(We spell the lawyer’s name variously as Omeke and Omeje.)
The full list of properties named in court
According to the witness, the assets traced to Mr Emefiele include the following:
- Lekki Phase 1, Lagos: twin duplexes
- Queens Drive, Ikoyi, Lagos: two mansions
- Adekunle Lawal Street, Ikoyi, Lagos: a block of eight flats that allegedly belonged originally to the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, where Mr Emefiele was board chairman. The witness said it was later sold to him and has since been forfeited.
- Ikoyi, Lagos: an 11-storey building under construction with about 94 luxury flats
- Amuwo Odofin, Lagos: an industrial park under development
- Agbor, Delta State: a factory under construction in Mr Emefiele’s hometown, already forfeited to the Federal Government, plus a warehouse in the same town
- Ogun State: a warehouse on the outskirts of Lagos holding several containers whose estimated value ran into hundreds of billions of naira
- Lokogoma District, Abuja: an estate of about 750 housing units
The Abuja estate has its own history. In 2025, the EFCC filed an eight-count charge against Mr Emefiele over the alleged acquisition of 753 housing units in the district. In February 2025, the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the final forfeiture of $4.7 million, ₦830 million and several properties linked to him. So some of what was read out in Ikeja was already known from earlier proceedings.
The forex allegation behind the trial
The property evidence came alongside a second line of testimony. Mr Gurumnaan alleged that Mr Emefiele created a system in which individuals and businesses seeking foreign exchange had to make payments to get it.
He cited a company whose officials allegedly paid about $17 million through Monday Osazuwa, a former CBN staff member. Osazuwa reportedly told investigators he sometimes gave the money to the second defendant, Henry Omoile, who passed it on to Mr Emefiele, and sometimes took it to him directly. The witness also said another company, Source Computer, was allegedly made to provide money before it could be paid its contract fees.
The EFCC says it stumbled on the arrangement while looking into complaints from importers and ordinary Nigerians who could not get dollars for their businesses and other genuine needs.
Did Emefiele respond?
The witness said Mr Emefiele was given the chance to answer the findings while his statement was recorded. According to Mr Gurumnaan, he did not address the allegations. The investigator also claimed that Mr Emefiele had appeared in court in earlier proceedings and acknowledged ownership of some of the assets.
The defence pushed back. Mr Emefiele’s lawyer, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, and Kazeem Gbadamosi, who represents Mr Omoile, objected on the grounds that the testimony was not relevant to the charges. Justice Oshodi overruled them, saying the defendants could cross-examine the witness. The judge also deferred a decision on a Supreme Court judgment the witness wanted to tender, after another defence objection.
Mr Emefiele and Mr Omoile are being tried on a multi-count charge of gratification, receiving gifts through agents, corruption and fraudulent receipt of property. Reports differ on the count: earlier coverage put it at 19 counts, with transactions valued at $4.5 billion and ₦2.8 billion, while Thursday’s reporting said 26 counts. Both men pleaded not guilty.
The case has moved in stages this year. The court admitted Mr Emefiele’s extra-judicial statements to the EFCC as exhibits after rejecting the defence objections. The trial was adjourned to November 13, 2026, for continuation.
Mr Emefiele is also fighting other cases. His naira redesign trial is before the FCT High Court in Abuja, and he has faced several suits since his removal from office by the Tinubu administration in June 2023.
