Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has been remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre by the Federal Capital Territory High Court.
He was arraigned before the court on six charge bordering on procurement fraud worth ₦1.2 billion, to which he pleaded not guilty.
He applied for bail from the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and his request was noted. The court has adjourned his hearing to November 22 while ordering his remand with the Nigerian Correctional Service.
Emefiele’s suspension by President Bola Tinubu led to the State Security Service (SSS), an agency of the federal government, charging him with illegal possession of firearms before the Lagos State High Court.
However, the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice withdrew the charges and approached the FCT High Court Abuja with fresh charges.
The Federal Government had initially preferred 20 charges on procurement fraud to the tune of N6.5bn against the former CBN governor.
But the FG reduced the charges to six to the tune of over N1bn before he was arraigned.
At Friday proceedings, Emefiele’s counsel, Mathew Burkaa, SAN, moved the application for bail but the counsel for the Federal Government, Rotimi Oyedepo, opposed granting bail to the former CBN governor.
The presiding judge, Justice Hamza Muazu, said a bench ruling could not be delivered in view of the plethora of authorities cited by the two parties.
The Judge said he needed a little time to study the authorities and peruse through the exhibits supplied by Emefiele to support his request for bail.
He, however, ordered that Emefiele be remanded at the Kuje prison pending the determination of his bail application.
Muazu then adjourned the case till November 22 for ruling on the bail application and November 28 for the commencement of trial.
The former CBN governor was recently released following an order from Justice Olukayode Adeniyi after spending 151 days in detention.
