National Telescope national telescope newspaper
An Abuja High Court has granted former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, bail.
The presiding Judge, Justice Olukayode Adeniyi ordered that Emefiele be released immediately to his lawyers, who were charged with the responsibility of producing him in court for his arraignment next week or at any other day.
According to the judge, the ex-bank chief must also deposit his travel documents before the chief registrar of the court, pending his arraignment.
The judge also pointed out that 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.
The substantive motion on notice as well as the preliminary objection, were adjourned to November 17, 2023 for hearing.
Emefiele’s Long Travails
Emefiele’s travails started when President Bola Tinubu suspended him as the apex bank chief on June 9, 2023. A day after, the Department of State Services (DSS) confirmed that the embattled and suspended CBN chief was in its custody.
After several legal fireworks by Emefiele’s counsel challenging his prolonged detention by the DSS, the secret police bowed to pressure on July 13, 2023 and announced that the suspended apex bank chief had been charged to court.
Emefiele was brought to a Lagos court by DSS operatives in a hilux vehicle on Tuesday, July 25, 2023.
The EFCC had failed to produce Emefiele in court at the previous sitting on Monday but the anti-graft agency bowed to the order of the court and produced the former CBN chief court on Wednesday for the hearing of his bail application.
Emefiele has been in the custody of security agencies for over 150 days.
