Abuse of Office: Court Grants Emefiele N50m Bail
A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has been granted bail by a Lagos State Special Offences Court.
He was accused of abusing his office and committing fraud worth $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion.
Justice Rahman Oshodi granted Emefiele N50 million bail with two sureties in like sum.
The sureties must be gainfully employed and have three years of tax payment records with the Lagos State Government.
They must also be properly identified and registered in the Lagos State Bail Management System.
The judge was satisfied with the previous bail conditions of N1 million given to Emefiele’s co-defendant, Henry Isioma-Omoil, who is standing another charge before Justice Olufunke Sule-Hamzat in a Lagos State High Court in Yaba.
However, the bail documents must be transferred to the special offences court and registered in the Lagos State Bail Management System.
Emefiele was arraigned along with Henry Isioma Omole on an amended 26-count charge by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to an offence bordering on abuse of office regarding the allocation of billions of dollars.
According to the count, Emefiele “directed an act to be executed in abuse of his office, as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which was arbitrary in nature, to wit: allocating foreign exchange without bids for $2,136,391,737.33, which is prejudicial to Nigerians’ rights.”
