Court has granted Emefiele N20m bail
Court has granted Emefiele N20m bail. Godwin Emefiele, the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has been granted bail in the amount of N20 million by a federal high court in Lagos.
On Tuesday, the presiding judge, Nicholas Oweibo, ruled that the charges against Emefiele are bailable.
The bail was granted with the condition of having one surety in the same sum.
Earlier, Emefiele pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge relating to the alleged illegal possession of firearms.
The federal government had accused Emefiele of being in possession of 123 rounds of live ammunition (cartridges) without a license.
After Emefiele entered his plea, his counsels, led by Joseph Daodu, a senior advocate of Nigeria, informed the court of a bail application.
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Daodu requested that the court grant bail to his client on self-recognizance or on other liberal terms, pending the hearing and determination of the trial.
“There is no counter affidavit from the federal government; this is an unopposed application. He is a renowned banker and can only stay at his house. He can’t travel anywhere,” Daodu said.
However, Nkiru Nebo-Jones, a deputy director of prosecution at the office of the attorney-general of the federation (AGF), opposed the bail application, stating that she had not seen a copy of the document.
Daodu asserted that the office of the AGF was served with the document of the bail application, and the proof of service endorsed by the AGF’s office was in the court’s file.