Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The embattled former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, has been released from the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja after meeting his N100 million bail conditions.
According to TheCable, Mr Adamu Duza, spokesperson for the centre, confirmed that Mr Emefiele was released on Friday, December 22.
The federal government has been prosecuting Mr Emefiele for alleged fraudulent procurements.
Prior to his release, his case had been adjourned to January 2024.
In November, the federal government arraigned Mr Emefiele on a six-count charge bordering on alleged fraudulent procurements.
The original charge, which was 20 counts to the tune of N6.5 billion, was reduced to six to the tune of N1.6 billion.
According to the amended charge sheet, Mr Emefiele illegally bought 43 vehicles between 2018 and 2020 worth N1.2 billion. He was also accused of awarding a contract for the procurement of 37 Toyota Hilux Vehicles valued at N854 million.
The government further alleged that he conferred a corrupt advantage contrary to Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 by awarding a contract for the supply of one Toyota Landcruiser V8 April 1616 Investment Limited, in 2019 at the cost of N73 million among others.
His release is coming after a special investigation into the activities of the central bank revealed Mr Emefiele had 593 bank accounts located in the United States, United Kingdom and China in which he kept Nigerian funds without authorisation by the Board and Investment Committee of the bank.
It was also found that he used ill-gotten wealth to acquire banks for himself through proxies.
According to the report, Mr Emefiele used proxies to acquire Union Bank of Nigeria for Titan Trust Bank Limited, as well as Keystone Bank without any evidence of payment.
It was also found the CBN printed the new N200, N500 and N1000 notes at a total cost of N61.5 billion, out of which it has paid N31.8 billion to the contractor, even though the total value of the new notes in circulation as of August was only N769,562 billion.
