Alleged Abuse Of Office: Emefiele Granted N50m Bail

The immediate-past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has been granted bail in the sum of N50m with two sureties in like sum.

Emefiele was granted bail by the Lagos State Special Offences Court, Ikeja, presided over by Justice Rahman Oshodi, on Friday, April 12, 2024.

Justice Oshodi who also held that the sureties must be gainfully employed and have three years of tax payment with the Lagos State Government, declared that the sureties must show proper identification and must be registered in the Lagos State Bail Management System.

The judge added that he was satisfied with the bail condition of N1 million earlier granted to Emefiele’s co-defendant, Henry Omoile, who is standing trial on another charge before Justice Olufunke Sule-Hamzat of the Lagos High Court, Yaba.

Justice Oshodi, while arriving at the decision when he was delivering a ruling on the bail applications filed by the defendants, insisted that the bail documents must be transferred to the Special Offences Court, and it must also be registered in the Lagos State Bail Management System.

Justice Oshodi had directed that Emefiele be remanded in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The court had also ordered that Emefiele’s co-defendant, Omoile, be remanded at the Ikoyi Custodial Centre, pending the ruling of the court on the bail applications filed by their counsel, Abdulakeem Labi-Lawal.

In his argument on the former CBN governor's bail application, Labi-Lawal had prayed to Justice Oshodi to grant Emefiele bail on self-recognizance pending the hearing and determination of the case or on the most liberal bail terms.

The lawyer had also urged the trial judge to grant the second defendant bail on self-recognizance and or on the most liberal terms.

Labi-Lawal in his 35-paragraph affidavits had stated that the first defendant (Emefiele) had complied with the bail application which was given to him by Justice Hamza Muazu in his ongoing alleged fraud trial in Abuja. 

The lawyer added that the charges filed against the first defendant were bailable offences and not capital-oriented.

According to him: "Though the first defendant was granted administrative bail by the prosecuting authority, he is seeking bail based on self-recognizance, and he is ready to attend trial.

“The court should also consider the status of the first defendant, as he was the former CBN governor of the country.”

The defence counsel further argued that his client had religiously presented himself before Justice Muazu in Abuja to answer the allegations before him.

According to him, the first defendant was not a flight risk, as he was the first person to arrive in court.

The defence counsel prayed to the court to grant bail to Emefiele on liberal terms.

Labi-Lawal had also moved the bail application for the second defendant and urged the court to grant him bail on liberal terms.

In his response, the counsel for the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), did not oppose the request for bail. Instead, the SAN asked the court to exercise its discretion in the grant of bail.

Specifically, the anti-graft agency had arraigned Emefiele on a 23-count charge bordering on alleged abuse of office to covet N4.5 billion and N2.8 billion for himself.

The former CBN governor is also being accused of accepting gratifications, corrupt demand, receiving property fraudulently obtained and conferring corrupt advantage, while his co-defendant, was arraigned on a three-count charge bordering on acceptance of gift by agents.

But the duo pleaded not guilty to the charge as made against them by the commission. 

The charge designated ID/23787c/2024, dated April 3, and filed by Oyedepo (SAN) had its first count stating Emefiele “directed to be done in abuse of the authority of your office, as the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, an arbitrary act, to wit: allocating foreign exchange in the aggregate sum of $2,136,391,737.33 without bids, which act is prejudicial to the rights of Nigerians.”

The offence was allegedly committed between 2022 and 2023 and is punishable under Section 73 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Count two of the charge indicated that Emefiele, between 2020 and 2021, in Lagos, “directed to be done in abuse of the authority of your office, as the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, an arbitrary, act to wit: allocating foreign exchange in the aggregate sum of $291,945,785.59, without bids, which act is prejudicial to the rights of Nigerians.”

In count three, the former CBN helmsman was alleged to have, in 2021, in Lagos, “directed to be done in abuse of the authority of your office, as the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, an arbitrary act, to wit: special allocation of foreign exchange in the aggregate sum of $1,769,254,793.16, which act is prejudicial to the rights of Nigerians.”

For count four, $370,872,893.01 was the sum involved.

In count 5, Emefiele’s co-defendant, Omole was accused of, “about the 17th of November 2020, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst acting as an agent accepted from Raja Punjab through Monday Osazuwa, the total sum of $110,000, for Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, gifts as reward for allocating foreign exchange by the Central Bank in favour of Raja Punjab’s employer.”

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