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A federal high court in Lagos, has granted bail to Godwin Emefiele, suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in the sum of N20 million.
In a ruling on Tuesday, Nicholas Oweibo, the presiding judge, said the charges against Emefiele are bailable.
The bail was granted with one surety in like sum.
Earlier, Emefiele pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge bordering on alleged illegal possession of firearms.
Earlier, court dismissed the Federal Government’s argument that it had not obtained a copy of the bail application made by suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele in his alleged gun possession case.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo made a succinct ruling on the matter, concluding that there was proof that the government was served.
The bail application was submitted by Emefiele’s solicitors, under the direction of Joseph Dauda (SAN).
Dauda requested that the court consider the application for bail on self-recognizance, stating that his client had met all requirements to make the motion ready for hearing.
He noted further that the proof of service endorsed by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) was in the court’s file.
Dauda also asked the court to end the oppression of his client by the Department of State Security (DSS) which arrested him and hear the bail application.
“There should be an end to oppression,” he said.
But the government’s lawyer, a Deputy Director of Public Prosecution (DDPP), Nkiru Jones-Nebo, told Justice Oweibo that she had not set eyes on the application as there is currently no AGF in the country after the tenure of the last administration lapsed.
She said, “We have scrutinised even through the agency the defendant is been detained but we could not find any.”
“I have not set my eye on this application. I am yet to receive and after we receive it, we would want to respond to it.”
“With due respect to the court we are seeking for a date to enable us respond both to the issues of law and the facts contained in the application which I am just seeing this morning.”
The arguments prompted Justice Oweibo to write a ruling where he dismissed the FG’s objections.
At the time of this report, the court is hearing the suspended CBN Governor’s bail application
