A Federal High Court in Lagos has rejected the Federal Government’s claim that it had not received a copy of the bail application filed by suspended Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that Justice Nicholas Oweibo held that there was evidence that the government had been served with the bail application.
Emefiele’s lawyers, led by Joseph B. Dauda, SAN, had filed the bail application, seeking to secure his release on self-recognition.
Dauda had argued that his client had fulfilled all the conditions necessary to make the application ripe for hearing. He also stated that the proof of service endorsed by the Attorney General of the Federation’s office was in the court’s file.
“There should be an end to oppression,” he said.
The government’s lawyer, Deputy Director of Prosecution N.B. Jones, had denied receiving the bail application.
“As I stand here, I have not set eyes on it,” she said.
However, Justice Oweibo ruled that the government’s claim was “not supported by the evidence before the court.”
Emefiele is standing trial on two counts of illegal possession of a single-barrel shotgun and 123 rounds of live ammunition. He has denied the charges.
