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, yesterday, 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 said: “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.”
He maintained, “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.”
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.