FG Files Fresh Charges Against Godwin Emefiele

By Adedapo Adesanya

A fresh 20-count charge has been filed at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court against the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele.

One of the counts accused Mr Emefiele of “conferring unlawful advantages” while he was in office.

This is coming as the federal government has applied to withdraw the illegal possession of firearms’ case it earlier filed against the embattled banker.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, in an oral application, told Justice Nicholas Oweibo that the application followed the result of further investigations.

However, counsel for Mr Emefiele, Mr Joseph Daudu (SAN), opposed the application, insisting that the government must first purge itself of the disobedience of the court’s order granting his client bail before its application could be taken.

Justice Oweibo has adjourned till Thursday, August 17, 2023, to rule on the application.

This is coming days after the CBN published the Consolidated Financial Statements for the last seven years, making it the first time since 2015 that the apex bank will be making its book available for public scrutiny.

The Consolidated Financial Statements, which were released by the CBN, are for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 financial periods.

The CBN declared a profit after tax of N103.8 billion in 2022, up from N75.13 billion reported a year earlier.

Mr Emefiele had come under attack for not releasing the financial statements to the public, an action which violates the CBN Act.

This comes as Mr Jim Obazee, a special investigator, is investigating the bank and related entities using a suitably experienced, competent and capable team and working with relevant security and anti-corruption agencies to deliver on the assignment.

Prior to this, Mr Emefiele had been in the net of the Department of State Service (DSS) even after he was granted a N20 million bail on a two-count charge of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.