The High Court sitting in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has ordered that the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, be remanded in the Kuje Correctional Centre until November 22, 2023.
Justice Hamza Muazu of the court gave the order on Friday morning, November 6, 2023, when Mr Emefiele’s bail application will be heard.
Emefiele was arraigned in court on a six-count charge. The Federal Government had initially preferred 20 procurement fraud charges to the tune of N6.5 billion against the former CBN governor.
“That you, Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, male, adult, sometime in 2018 within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did use your position as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to confer a corrupt advantage on Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro, a staff member of the Central Bank of Nigeria, by awarding a contract for the supply of 37 Toyota Hilux Vehicles at the cost of N854,700,000 only to April 1616 Investment Ltd, a company in which the said Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro is a director and thereby committed an offence,” the first count said.
In the second count, the government alleged that Mr Emefiele used his position to corruptly confer an advantage on Yaro, “a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria, by awarding a contract for the supply of one Toyota Avalon at the cost of N99,900,000 only to April 1616 Investment Ltd, a company in which the said Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro Director thereby committed an offence.”
Mr Emefiele was also alleged to have conferred corrupt advantage contrary to Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 by awarding a contract for the supply of one Toyota Landcruiser V8 April 1616 Investment Ltd. in 2019 at the cost of N73 million.
The fourth alleged a Toyota Landcruiser V8 valued at N73,800,000 was illegally awarded to April 1616 Investment Ltd.
The ex-CBN governor was also alleged to have awarded a contract to Yaro for the supply of two Toyota Hilux Shell Specification Vehicles at the cost of N44,200,000 in 2020.
But the FG reduced the charges to six to the tune of over N1bn, for which he was arraigned on Friday.
At Friday’s proceedings, Emefiele’s counsel, Mathew Burkaa SAN, moved the application for bail, but the FG counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, vehemently 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 until November 22 for a ruling on the bail application and November 28 for the commencement of trial.
His remand order is coming after Justice Olukayode Adeniyi ordered that he should be released to his lawyers on November 8 after spending 151 days in detention.
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