The arraignment of the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, over an alleged procurement fraud to the tune of N6.9 billion, has again been stalled.
The matter was not listed on the cause list of a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja on Wednesday with no reason given as lawyers to both parties were absent in court.
The suspended CBN governor, who appeared before the court last Thursday, was supposed to be arraigned but the arraignment was stalled due to the absence of the second defendant, who was said to have been indisposed.
Although Emefiele (the first defendant) was present in court, the second defendant, a female CBN employee, Sa’adatu Yaro, was not in court.
In the fresh 20-count charge filed by the federal ministry of justice, the suspended CBN governor and his co-defendants are accused of engaging in conspiracy and procurement fraud, among others.
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Following an application for adjournment, the Presiding Judge, Justice Hamza Muazu adjourned the matter to 23 August, 2023.
Emefiele has been in the custody of the Department of States Services (DSS) since June.
On 25 July, he was arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on “illegal possession” of firearms at a federal high court in Ikoyi and was granted bail in the sum of N20 million.
Nicholas Oweibo, the judge, had ordered that Emefiele be kept in the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) pending the fulfillment of his bail conditions.
But the DSS insisted that Emefiele must return to its custody — a development that led to the face-off between the secret police and prison officials.
After the face-off, DSS rearrested Emefiele on the court premises.
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On 3 August, the federal government filed an application seeking leave to appeal against the order granting bail to Emefiele.
However, on 15 August, the federal government made an oral application to withdraw the charge of “illegal possession of firearms” against Emefiele.
Mohammed Abubakar, the director of public prosecution (DPP) of the federation, said the decision to withdraw the charge is backed by sections 174 (1) and (3) of the 1999 constitution and sections 108 (1), (2) and (4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.
On 17 August, the court granted the federal government’s application and struck out the charge.