The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has been re-arraigned before Justice Hamza Muazu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja.
He now faces trial on amended charges, totaling 20 counts as opposed to the initial six.
Emefiele, however, entered a plea of not guilty to the charges read out in open court. The anti-graft agency, representing the Federal Government, re-arraigned Emefiele on a 20-count charge related to conferring corrupt advantage, forgery, and obtaining by false pretense.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had initially arraigned Emefiele on November 17, 2023, before Justice Muazu on a six-count charge regarding conferring an advantage on a female CBN staff member, contravening Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000. In the charge marked CR/577/2023, Emefiele was accused of using his position as CBN governor to award six contracts to Sa’adatu Ramalan Yero, a CBN staff member, between 2018 and 2020, totaling N1,210,600,000.
The procurement contracts were awarded to a company where Sa’adatu Ramalan Yero serves as a director.
While retaining the previous six-count charge, the prosecution added 14 additional counts to the charge.
Following Emefiele’s plea of not guilty, the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo SAN, requested a trial date. Emefiele’s counsel, Mathew Burkaa SAN, sought the court’s permission for his client to maintain the bail granted on November 22, 2023. The prosecution did not oppose this request.
Oyedepo emphasized that the prosecution’s primary concern was Emefiele’s attendance for trial. Consequently, the court affirmed the former CBN governor’s right to continue enjoying the bail previously granted by the court.
