The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has yet to fulfil the bail conditions imposed on him by the Federal Capital Territory High Court last week.
After the conclusion of trial on Tuesday, he was whisked away from the court premises by Personnel of the Nigerian Correctional Service.
THE WHISTLER reported that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, had granted N300 million bail to former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
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The embattled former CBN governor had been remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre by the FCT High Court.
Emefiele was arraigned before the court on a six-count charge bordering on procurement fraud to the tune of N1.2 billion.
But he pleaded not guilty while applying for bail from the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
In his ruling on November 22, Justice Hamza Muazu said the charges in the case were bailable offences.
He then granted Emefiele bail and directed him to produce two sureties who have landed property in Maitama District of the FCT, as part of the conditions for his bail.
Emefiele was ordered to deposit all his travel documents with the registrar of the court and must remain within the Abuja Municipal Area Council till the end of the fraud case instituted against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
On Tuesday, THE WHISTLER was told by one of the lawyers in Emefiele’s legal team that the embattled CBN was ‘yet to fulfil the bail conditions’.
When THE WHISTLER asked Mathew Burkaa SAN, Emefiele’s lawyer, why his client had yet to perfect the bail conditions, his response was “we are on it.”
The case had earlier been adjourned till January 18 and 19 for continuation of trial.
Recall that after the suspension of Emefiele by President Bola Tinubu, the State Security Service (SSS), an agency of the federal government, charged him before the Lagos State High Court with illegal possession of firearms.
Subsequently, 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.
In August, the FG subsequently instituted a fresh 20 counts of procurement fraud charges against Emefiele and a CBN staff member, Sa’adatu Yaro, bordering on alleged N6.9 billion fraud.
But their arraignment has been stalled since August 17 over the illness of a CBN female staff member.
They were said to have diverted public funds for personal use including the alleged purchase of exotic cars.
But in fresh suit no: CR/577/2023, the federal government amended the (now N1.2b) fraud charges (dated November 8) to six counts with Emefiele as the sole defendant.
Emefiele was granted bail on the court’s previous sitting on November 8.
The charges state that the embattled CBN governor allegedly conferred “undue advantage” in awarding contracts.