THE former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has been sent to Kuje Correctional Centre over an alleged N1.6 billion procurement fraud.
Emefiele was arraigned on a six-count charge at a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Abuja, on Friday, November 17.
The Federal Government said in the new charge sheet that the former CBN chief unlawfully purchased 43 vehicles for N1.2 billion between 2018 and 2020.
The initial 20-count charge, totalling N6.5 billion, has been lowered to six.
Emefiele is the only defendant in the new charge.
After the six-count accusation was read to him, the former CBN governor entered a not-guilty plea when he appeared in court on Friday, November 17, to request bail.
He was charged with ordering 37 Toyota Hilux vehicles, totalling N854 million.
He was also charged with giving corrupt benefits in violation of Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Act 2000 when he granted N73 million for the supply of a single Toyota Landcruiser in 2019.
In the fourth count, he was accused of wrongfully awarding a contract for a Toyota Landcruiser V8 for N73,800,000.
The Federal Government also charged him with giving a contract sum of N44,200,000 in 2020 for the supply of two Toyota Hilux Shell Specification vehicles.
The Federal Capital Territory High Court’s Justice Hamza Muazu adjourned the case until November 22 to rule on Emefiele’s bail request and November 28 to start the trial.
He ordered Emefiele to be placed under remand in the Kuje Correctional Centre in the interim.
The ICIR reported that a FCT High Court granted Emefiele bail on November 8.
The judge, Olukayode Adeniyi, ordered that Emefiele be released immediately to his lawyers, who must bring him into court for arraignment the following week or any other day.
Additionally, the court decided that the former CBN governor could not be detained due to the Federal Government’s claim that he would be charged with a new offence on November 15.
It determined that the claim was speculative since no evidence supported the idea that the scheduled arraignment would proceed as planned.
Furthermore, the court took note of the inconsistent dates on a remand order that the Federal Government’s attorney had presented to it and signed by an Abuja chief magistrate.
According to Adeniyi, while awaiting his arraignment, Emefiele was told to deposit his travel documents with the chief registrar of the court.
The judge ruled that incarceration without charge or trial must end.
According to the court, the Federal Government and the Attorney-General of the Federation are to obey the court’s ruling, stressing that it would not ignore the fact that the defendant has been detained for 151 days.
The hearings on the substantive motion on notice and the preliminary objection were postponed until November 17.
The ICIR reported that the EFCC, on Monday, November 6, failed to produce Emefiele in court for the hearing of his motion on fundamental rights enforcement.
The action violates Adeniyi’s directive to the anti-graft agency to either present the former CBN governor in person for the hearing of a request on his bail or release him unconditionally.
Emefiele, detained since June 9, filed a request with the court to uphold his fundamental human rights.
In addition to pleading for his quick release from EFCC custody, he asked the court to grant him N5 million in damages.
A High Court in Abuja on July 14 nullified the arrest, detention, and interrogation of Emefiele by the SSS.
The court, presided by Bello Kawu, ordered his release and described his arrest and detention as illegal.
The court also granted an injunction restraining the security agencies, particularly the SSS, from interfering with his liberty and freedom of movement or taking other steps against him.
The judgment came barely 24 hours after another High Court in Abuja had ordered the release of the embattled former CBN governor.
The ICIR had reported that the Abuja High Court ordered the SSS to file charges against Emefiele or release him within one week.
The SSS confirmed the arrest of the former apex bank governor, whom President Bola Tinubu suspended on June 9.
A reporter with the ICIR
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