Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federal Capital Territory High Court has granted the request of the embattled immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, to travel out of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
However, Justice Hamza Muazu said Mr Emefiele must remain in the country even though his travel credentials have been seized.
Mr Emefiele has faced ordeals relating to his time at the CBN since mid-last year. In one of his bail conditions, he was prohibited from travelling outside Abuja.
The former apex bank chief, through his lawyer, Mr Mathew Bukka, had requested a variation of the terms which received no objection from the counsel to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Mr Rotimi Oyedepo.
He told the court to ensure that Mr Emefiele wrote an undertaking that he would remain in the country if his plea was granted.
The former chief executive of Zenith Bank was arraigned on a six-count charge bordering on procurement fraud and using his position to confer a corrupt advantage on Sa’adatu Yaro, a staff of the CBN, by awarding a contract for the procurement of 43 vehicles worth N1.2 billion between 2018 and 2020.
While he was remanded in Kuje, Mr Emefiele was mandated to deposit all his travel documents with the registrar of the court and must remain within the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).
The court had on December 24, 2023, granted him bail in the sum of N300 million with two sureties in like sum.
Last June, he was arrested and first taken into custody by the Department of State Services (DSS) following his suspension as the CBN governor by President Bola Tinubu.
Late last year, a special investigation into the activities of the central bank claimed 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 alleged that he used ill-gotten wealth to acquire banks for himself through proxies.
According to the investigation by a special investigator, Mr Jim Obazee, Mr Emefiele allegedly used proxies to acquire Union Bank of Nigeria for Titan Trust Bank Limited, as well as Keystone Bank without any evidence of payment.
