Mustapha made this revelation while testifying as the fourth prosecution witness in the ongoing fraud trial of the former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has accused Emefiele of conspiring with Odoh Ocheme, who is currently evading arrest, to obtain $6.2 million from the CBN under false pretenses.

The alleged scheme involved a purported request from the SGF dated January 26, 2023, with Reference No. SGF.43/L.01/.

The anti-graft agency also alleged that Emefiele, in January 2023, forged a document titled: “RE: PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE ON FOREIGN ELECTION OBSERVER MISSIONS,” dated 26 January 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201.

Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), on Tuesday, Mustapha noted that neither the documents came from the president nor his office.

He also denied receiving any amount from the said money.

Mustapha said, “All through my service year as the SGF, I never came across these documents it was claimed that Buhari signed. From the face value of this document, having served for five years and seven months as SGF, this document did not emanate from the president for the following reasons.

“A correspondence that has the seal of the Nigerian president does not carry a reference number. The seal is the authority.

“Secondly, I have looked at it and read, that FEC decisions are not transmitted by letters. They are transmitted through extracts after conclusions are adopted.

“Thirdly, I am the custodian of FEC, the president will not refer executives’ conclusions to me.

“Also, in all the five years and seven months, I have never heard of the terms special appropriation provision referred to. The terms known to me, my lord, are appropriation as provided by the appropriation act normally passed by the national assembly and when the government file drafts it brings supplementary appropriation.

“In all the correspondences I have received from Buhari, it has never had ‘please accept the assurance of my highest regard’. I am his subordinate, my correspondences do not carry that.
And lastly, looking at the signature, it is a failed attempt at reproducing Buhari’s signature. I will leave that to the experts.”

Zainab Ahmed, the minister of finance, and Boss Mustapha, the secretary general of the federation, are among the representatives who were asked to participate in a Q&A session on Tuesday, Channels Television reports.

Sylva Okolieaboh, the acting Accountant General of the Federation, as well as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), among others, have also been summoned.

The committee is also concerned about the disparity in figures from crude oil sales from  2011 to 2014 and is accusing the minister of finance of approving payments to whistle-blowers at variance with the whistle-blower policy.

The ad hoc House committee is investigating a whistle-blower’s allegation of illegal sale of 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s bonny light crude in China in 2015, valued at $2.4 billion.

The committee, in February, had accused the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami as well as Interpol, on what it described as interference in the committee’s investigation.

The committee questioned why a whistle-blower would be invited by Interpol on the request of the Ministry of Justice just after the commencement of the investigation of the House.

However, the Head of the National Central Bureau of Interpol Nigeria, Garba Umar, said the Bureau only acted on the request of the AGF.

The Chairman, House Ad hoc Committee on Oil Theft, Mark Gbillah said, “There is a group called Advocacy for Good Governance and Free Nigeria.

“That is the so-called Civil Society Organisation that wrote to the Attorney General claiming there was this international gang of blackmailers trying to blackmail senior officials of the government.

“How come the Attorney General responded to allegations by a faceless body? That means the Attorney General himself did not ascertain the veracity of any organisation.”

The Committee, dissatisfied with the submission of Interpol, accused the AGF of interfering with the investigation of the House.

The Committee feared the safety of the whistleblower and insisted that the Ministry of Justice should not be making direct requests to Interpol but should go through the police, as Interpol by law is only expected to respond to requests by local law enforcement agencies.

This warning came through the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the (COVID-19) on Monday.

Chairman of the PTF and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha cited how such haste escalated COVID-19 management situation in some countries.

Mustapha advised that it would be in the best interest of the country to stick to the pattern that had proven effective for the country since the national response was launched.

“It is in the above context that the PTF appreciates the on-going calls for re-opening of the education sector and indeed some sub-nationals are already making preparations for such.

“Whilst the PTF does not discourage making such preparations, we need to be guided by experiences from countries such as Germany, France, the United States and the UK where opening of schools in some cities led to an increase in confirmed cases and fatalities”, he said.

He further hinted that more sectors of the economy may soon be reopened, especially as the nation would be entering a new phase of the eased of lockdown.

He said the PTF would present its recommendations to President Muhammadu Buhari this week, which will determine the next phase in the national response.

He noted that the last three weeks had shown a slowdown in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country, noting that, in the last four months of testing, the lowest daily figure of confirmed cases (138) was reported on August 30.

The PTF boss however urged caution and vigilance on the declining numbers as he noted that “the virus is still potent and very dangerous”.

He acknowledged that the last seven days had shown a consistently greater number of discharges than confirmed cases and expressed delight that the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, like many other Nigerians, has recovered from the infection, congratulating all those that have recovered and urge them to tell their stories.

The SGF also recalled that at the outbreak of the pandemic, it was predicted that the African continent, with its weak health infrastructure and propensity to high disease burden, would be the worst hit.

He, however said that a recent publication by the Weekly Science Review as indicated that despite having 17 percent of the global population, Africa has accounted for just five per cent of global confirmed COVID-19 cases and three per cent of deaths.

Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha disclosed this on Tuesday at the taskforce daily briefing in Abuja.

According to him, conversations are ongoing between the taskforce and the Ministry of Aviation regarding reopening of international flight

“Most importantly, the arrival protocols for passengers on inbound flights are being firmed up for seamless testing and detection. Relevant MDAs will be holding further consultations,” Mustapha said.

Recall that the federal government had shut down all airports in Nigeria following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country as part of its effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

But the FG had since July 8 announced the commencement of domestic flights with no indications of the date for resumption of international flight

The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha, disclosed this during a briefing in Abuja on Friday, noting that this was the contribution of the nation’s insurance industry to the effort towards curbing the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

According to his speech, Mustapha, who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) said, “I am pleased to inform you that in addition to what the Federal Government is doing, the insurance industry has responded massively to the call for support.

“The Presidential Task Force has received a life insurance cover to all frontline workers on COVID-19 for a maximum of 5,000 health workers who are employed to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said in his opening remarks at the briefing.

“The premium, in the sum of N112,500,000 for cover, has been fully paid by the Nigeria Insurance Industry, in line with the principle of ‘no premium, no cover’.”