The suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, is facing new charges brought by the Federal Government in a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FTC) in Abuja.
As a result of this development, the Federal Government has decided to withdraw the prior charge of ‘illegal possession of firearms’ that was initially filed against Emefiele in the Federal High Court situated in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mohammed Bakodo Abubakar, presented an oral application, explaining that the decision to withdraw the charge stemmed from the findings of further investigations.
However, the defense counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN), contested the application, asserting that due to the government’s failure to comply with the court’s order granting Emefiele bail, their application should not be accepted.
In a previous ruling on July 25, Justice Nicholas Oweibo had granted Emefiele bail amounting to N20 million on charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. The judge had also ordered Emefiele’s remand at the Ikoyi Correctional Center until his bail conditions were met. Nevertheless, the Department of State Services (DSS) re-arrested Emefiele after a confrontation with officials from the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) at the court premises.
After the proceedings on Tuesday, Mohammed Bakodo Abubakar informed journalists that the new charges consist of 20 counts and have been filed at a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court. One of the counts accuses Emefiele of engaging in “conferring unlawful advantages.”
