Suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele has filed a lawsuit asking a federal high court in Lagos to stop the federal government from further prosecuting him on charges of illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that Emefiele is also seeking an order from the court discharging him of all charges, arguing that the government has been in “brazen disobedience” of the court’s order granting him bail on July 25, 2023.
In his lawsuit, Emefiele said that the government has refused to release him from detention, despite the fact that he has met all the bail conditions set by the court. He also accused the government of trying to “frustrate” his bail by filing an application for leave to appeal the bail order.
Emefiele filed the application through his lawyers led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Joseph Daudu, before Vacation Judge Justice Nicholas Oweibo who had admitted him to bail after his arraignment.
This was disclosed by a member of the defence team, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Victor Opara. According to Opara, the application was filed yesterday, Aug 8th, and has been served on the FG today.
The court has scheduled a hearing on Emefiele’s lawsuit for Thursday, August 10.
In a separate development, the federal government has also filed an application before the court seeking to stay execution of the order remanding Emefiele in the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Services.
In the application filed on Aug. 3rd by a deputy director of public prosecutions of the Federation, Nkiru Jones-Nebo, the government is asking the court to instead remand Emefiele in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
