The federal government will on Thursday arraign the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
Sources at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja, told PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday that Mr Emefiele will be arraigned at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja.
This follows Tuesday’s request by the federal government to withdraw the initial charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition filed against Mr Emefiele at the Federal High Court in Lagos.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abubakar Mohammed, told the judge, Nicholas Oweibo, that the application for withdrawal was based on the result of more investigations conducted by the government.
The judge fixed Thursday to decide on the request which was opposed by Mr Emefiele’s legal team.
FIRS
Mr Mohammed told journalists after the day’s proceedings, about the filing of the fresh 20 charges against Mr Emefiele.
That Thursday, Mr Emefiele, who has been in the custody of the State Security Service (SSS) since 10 June, is billed to appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja to answer to fresh 20 charges of conspiracy and procurement fraud.
He was charged alongside a CBN staff member, Sa’adatu Yaro, and her company, April 1616 Investment Limited.
The government accuses Mr Emefiele of conferring corrupt advantages on Ms Yaro through the award of contracts to her company up to the tune of N99.9m for the supply of cars.
Court filings showed that the alleged transactions took place between 2018 and 2020.
Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000, under which he was charged, provides a five-year jail sentence upon conviction.
“Any public officer who uses his office or position to gratify or confer any corrupt or unfair advantage upon himself or any relation or associate of the public officer or any other public officer shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for five years without an option of fine,” the law stipulates.
According to the charges, Mr Emefiele and Ms Yaro were alleged to have purchased a fleet of about 100 posh vehicles and armoured buses worth about N6.9 billion.
In December 2022, the SSS filed a warrant of arrest before the Federal High Court in Abuja, where it accused Mr Emefiele of egregious financial and terrorism-related crimes.
However, the court declined to grant the request, citing the service’s failure to place any evidence before it to substantiate the application.
But the fresh set of charges revealed the vehicles purchased between 2018 and 2020 were 84 Toyota Hilux vehicles, 10 armoured Mercedes Benz buses, three Toyota Landcruisers and one Toyota Avalon car.
In count one, Mr Emefiele was said to have “sometime in 2018 within the jurisdiction of this honourable court did use your position as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to confer a corrupt advantage on Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro, a staff member of the Central Bank of Nigeria by awarding a contract for the supply of 37 (Nos.) Toyota Hilux Vehicles at the cost of N854,700,000 only to April 1616 Investment Ltd, a company in which she is a director and thereby committed an offence.”
In another count, the suspended CBN chief, Ms Yaro and her company “sometime in 2019 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did conspire amongst yourselves to use the office of Mr. Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to confer a corrupt advantage on Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro, a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria by awarding a contract for the supply of 1 (No.) Toyota Landcruiser V8 at the cost of N73,800,000 only to April 1616 Investment Ltd., ‘’ the charge stated.
According to count 10, “Ms Yaro, sometime in 2018 within the jurisdiction of this honourable court while being employed at the CBN knowingly held directly a private interest as director in April1616 Investment Ltd., in a contract awarded to the said company, for the supply of 47 Toyota Hilux vehicles at the cost of N1,085, 700,000 and thereby committed an offence.’’
Count 11 says: “That you, Sa’adatu Rammala Yaro, female, adult, sometime in 2018 within the jurisdiction of this honourable court while being employed at the CBN knowingly held directly a private interest as director in April1616 Investment Ltd., in a contract awarded to the said company, emanating from the CBN where you are employed, for the supply of 10 Mercedes Benz armoured buses at the cost of N2,222, 500,00 and thereby committed an offence.’’
To prove its case, the government has assembled seven witnesses to testify against the defendants.
Some of the key witnesses include the apex bank’s director of procurement, Stanley Alvan; head of procurement, Mike Agboro and Tahir Jafar.
President Bola Tinubu suspended Mr Emefiele as the CBN governor on 9 June.
The next day, 10 June, the SSS picked him up in Lagos and flew him to its headquarters in Abuja for interrogations.
Mr Emefiele has since remained in SSS custody. His co-defendant in the fresh case, Mrs Yaro, who was arrested alongside her husband, Aminu Yaro, on 12 July, is also still in custody.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the FCT High Court ordered the release of the couple on 25 July. But the order was not complied with.
It took an order of the FCT High Court on 13 July, more than a month after the arrest, for the SSS to file the charges of the firearms charges against Mr Emefiele.
Subsequently, on 25 July, the SSS arraigned him before the Federal High Court in Lagos on two charges of “illegal possession” of firearms and live ammunition.
But the Federal Ministry of Justice, which appears to have now taken over the prosecution of the suspended central bank chief from the SSS, sought, through its DPP, Mr Mohammed, on Tuesday, to withdraw the firearms charges.
In his response, the defence counsel, Joseph Daudu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said such an application under section 174(1) and (3) of the Nigerian constitution cannot be made orally, but in a formal application which must establish the need for public interest, the interest of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process.
Replying on points of law, the DPP said his application is brought under section 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of 2015, which grants a prosecutor powers to withdraw charges against the defendant at any stage and that it doesn’t have to be in writing.
The trial judge then adjourned until Thursday to rule on the request by the DPP. Coincidentally, Mr Emefiele’s arraignment on the fresh procurement fraud charges is scheduled to take place the same day in Abuja.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
