By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has granted bail to the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, in the sum of N20 million with one surety in like sum.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo granted bail to Mr Emefiele after listening to the submissions of his counsel, Mr Joseph Daudu (SAN).
Business Post had reported that the embattled Mr Emefiele was arraigned at the Ikoyi court on two counts of illegal possession of firearm and ammunition on Tuesday following a suit brought by the Department of State Services (DSS).
After more than one month in the net of the agency, the banker was arraigned before the vacation judge, Justice Nicholas Oweibo.
Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Daudu, was the leader in Mr Emefiele’s defence.
The suspended apex bank chief had pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.
After the plea, his counsel told the court that his client had been in detention for weeks, informing Justice Oweibo that the application for bail had been filed and served on the prosecution.
This would mark his first appearance since he was seen in a viral video being marched onto a waiting aircraft in June.
Mr Emefiele’s travails had started after President Bola Tinubu criticised the CBN’s handling of the country’s monetary policies at his inauguration on May 29.
He later suspended Mr Emefiele as the apex bank chief on June 9, 2023. And the next day, the DSS confirmed that the embattled, suspended CBN chief was in its custody.
An Abuja High Court on July 13, 2023, subsequently ordered that the secret police charge Mr Emefiele to court within one week or release him.
Following the court order, the DSS said Mr Emefiele had been charged to court in compliance with the court order.
The federal government later filed two counts of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition against Emefiele before the Federal High Court in Lagos on two counts of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
The government maintained that the offence is contrary to Section 4 of the Firearms Act, Cap F28 Laws of the Federation 2004, and punishable under Section 27 (1b) of the same Act.
Modupe Gbadeyanka