Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has been released from the Kuje Correctional Centre after meeting the bail conditions set by the Federal Capital Territory High Court.
Sources close to the matter revealed that Emefiele secured his release on Friday afternoon, having met the conditions imposed by the court. His freedom comes in the midst of a controversial report by special investigator Jim Obazee, appointed by President Bola Tinubu to probe Emefiele’s tenure at the CBN.
The report suggests alleged abuse of office, with claims that Emefiele used proxies to acquire Union Bank and compromised the acquisition processes of Polaris and Keystone banks.
Prior to the release, Emefiele faced a six-count charge of procurement fraud amounting to N1.6 billion, filed by the Federal Government. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, and Justice Hamza Muazu granted his bail request with a sum of N300 million and two sureties with Certificates of Occupancy on properties in Maitama district, FCT.
As part of the bail conditions, Emefiele is required to submit his passport to the court and is prohibited from leaving the Federal Capital Territory.
One of the charges against Emefiele reads, “That you, Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, sometime in 2018, did use your position as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to confer a corrupt advantage by awarding a contract for the supply of 37 Toyota Hilux Vehicles at the cost of N854,700,000 to April1616 Investment Ltd, a company in which Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro, a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria and director of the said company, is involved, thereby committing an offence.”
