Emefiele: Examination of WhatsApp Messages Ordered by Court Deadlocked as Parties Fail on Modalities

Akin Kuponiyi 

 

An Ikeja Special Offences Court, today, Tuesday heard that its order of examination of the phone and WhatsApp conversations.

In the ongoing trial of the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele be examined by forensic experts, has met a brick wall as parties failed to agree on the modalities of the examination.

At the resumed trial of the case today, Emefiele’s lawyer, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, told the trial judge, Justice Rahman Oshodi, that on two occasions, representatives of the Economic and Financial  Crime Commission, EFCC, as the prosecution, successfully blocked execution of the court’s order to examine the phone.

Justice Oshodi had ruled that the mobile device, marked “iPhone 2”, and its WhatsApp contents tendered by EFCC as evidence, in the ongoing trial, should be examined scientifically.

This was as a result of Emefiele’s lawyer’s application on the necessity of subjecting the phone device to forensic examination with the presence of experts on both sides of the prosecution and defence, to serve the interest of justice.

Reporting the failed exercise, Ojo SAN told the court that on the 24th and 25th September, 2025, the dates directed by the court for the forensic examination of the device, although representatives of both parties were present, together with the Registrar of the court, nothing could be done as EFCC’s representatives failed to present the phone to the examination team.

“The first brick wall we faced was that the EFCC said the device cannot be exposed to the entire team. On 25th September, the Registrar was also present, who clarified that the order directed that WhatsApp can be examined. When the Apple expert demanded a phone device, it was not produced. “The EFCC met us with categorical NO. The Registrar cannot make a decision. The same thing happened on the 25th, equally wasted.

“There must be unfettered access for the experts to do their job. We were blocked. The court should give a directive to assess the phone and WhatsApp”, Ojo SAN submitted.

However, the prosecutor, Barrister Rotimi Oyedepo SAN, submitted that the objection of the prosecution was based on the fact that the forensic expert presented by the defence team was not credible but had no fixed address. In addition, the so-called forensic expert was trying to link the device to the internet, which would disrupt the whole system of the device.

Justice Oshodi has adjourned till  tomorrow for the continuation of trial.