It will be the fourth criminal case filed against him by the Federal Government following his removal from office last June by President Bola Tinubu.
The immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, presently in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will be arraigned on another charge in Abuja between April 25 and 26, 2024, his lawyer has said.
The Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja on Monday had adjourned the ruling on the bail application filed by the former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Emefiele.
SaharaReporters had reported how Emefiele arrived at the court for his arraignment earlier on Monday morning over alleged abuse of office.
Emefiele was arraigned along with his co-defendant, Henry Isioma Omole, on 26 counts before Justice Rahman Oshodi.
The former governor of the apex bank pleaded not guilty to the charges against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Oshodi ordered Emefiele to be put in EFCC custody.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
While Justice Oshodi ordered that Emefiele should be remanded in EFCC custody, he ordered that Isioma-Omoile be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre, where he was already being held.
The judge made the remand orders while adjourning till Thursday, April 11, 2024, to hear their bail applications.
With Monday’s order, Emefiele returns to the EFCC custody about four and a half months after he left the custody of the anti-graft agency in November 2023, following his initial 151 days in both the custody of the EFCC and the Department of State Services.
At the Monday proceedings, his lawyer, Mr Abdulakeem Labi-Lawal, told hinted that the ex-CBN governor would be up for a fresh arraignment between April 25 and 26.
It will be the fourth criminal case filed against him by the Federal Government following his removal from office last June by President Bola Tinubu.
The DSS first arraigned before the Federal High Court in Lagos for illegal possession of firearms. The case was later withdrawn.
He was subsequently arraigned by the EFCC in November before Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Territory High Court on charges bordering on procurement fraud and forgery of the signature of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.
His Monday arraignment before Justice Oshodi in Lagos was the third.
At the Monday trial in Lagos, the EFCC prosecutor, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), told the court that Emefiele allegedly abused the authority of his office as CBN governor by allocating foreign exchange in the aggregate sum of $2.2bn without bids, the act which was prejudiced to the rights of Nigerians.
Oyedepo also told the court that the ex-CBN governor corruptly accepted the aggregate sum of $26.5m through Donatone Ltd on account of the allocation of foreign exchange by the CBN.
The commission further accused Emefiele of receiving the sum of $400,000 from Source Computer Ltd on account of the approval of a “contract” in favour of the said company by the CBN, the institution wherein he served as the governor.
The anti-graft agency alleged that Emefiele used his position as the governor of the CBN to confer a corrupt advance on his associate, Limelight Multidimensional Services Ltd, by allegedly approving the payment of the aggregate sum of N900m to the said company.
Emefiele was also alleged to have used his position as the CBN governor to confer a corrupt advantage on Comec Support Services Ltd by approving the sum of N149m to the company.
The EFCC also alleged that the former CBN governor used his position to confer a corrupt advantage on Andswin Resources and Solutions Ltd by approving payment of the sum of N398m to the company.
The prosecutor said Emefiele, between January 20 and June 2, 2023, in Lagos corruptly, received $7,720,000 on account of foreign exchange.
He was also accused of receiving $850,000, sometime in March 2023, on account of foreign exchange in favour of his employer the CBN, the institution of government where Emefiele governed.
Oyedepo told the court that Emefiele’s co-defendant, Henry Osioma-Omoile, on November 17, 2020, while acting as an agent received the sum of $110,000 through Monday Osazuwa, as a gift for Emefiele as a reward for allocating foreign currencies by CBN.
The commission also accused Isioma-Omoile of receiving the sum of $100,000, in two tranches on behalf of Emefiele as a gift reward for the allocation of foreign currency.
The prosecution said both defendants acted contrary to the provisions of sections 8, 10, and 19 of the Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offences.
Follow the Sahara Reporters channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaFClvtH5JM6SSsP7M2Y