Update on Emefiele: Court Grants ex-CBN governor bail

A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, was on Wednesday granted bail by Justice Olukayode Adeniyi, of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

The judge ordered that Emefiele be released immediately to his lawyers, who were charged with the responsibility of producing him in court for his arraignment henceforth

Emefiele was ordered to deposit his travel documents (passports) before the Chief Registrar of the court, pending his arraignment.

“There must be an end to detention, without trial.

“The court must also not overlook the fact that he has been in detention for 151 days and the Federal Government and the Attorney General of the Federation must abide by court order,” Justice Adeniyi ruled.

The substantive motion on notice as well as the preliminary objection have been adjourned to November 17, 2023 for hearing.

Persecondnews had earlier reported that EFCC, on Wednesday, finally bowed to the court ruling ordering it to produce Emefiele before the high court in Abuja, for the hearing of his bail application.

This followed an earlier ruling by Justice Adeniyi, on November 2, directing the anti-graft agency to either release Emefiele, who had been in custody since June 9, or produce him in court for a bail decision.

Persecondnews also recalls that the EFCC had failed to produce the former CBN Governor to the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, on Monday, November 6, following his arrest by the EFCC shortly after his release from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) in late October.

Emefiele has been in the custody of Security agencies for over 150 days, on charges of procurement fraud, but his trial has stalled since August when the DSS failed to present him in court to enter a plea.

Emefiele, who has not commented publicly on the case, was suspended by President Bola Tinubu on June 9 and was arrested a day later by the DSS.

His alleged resignation in August paved way for the appointment of new CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, in September.