A ruling is expected on Thursday from a Federal High Court in Lagos regarding a request to withdraw charges against Godwin Emefiele, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The application to withdraw the charges was submitted by the Federal Government. The decision date was set by Justice Nicholas Oweibo following arguments from the involved parties during the hearing.
Earlier, the court had reserved a hearing for two pending applications, one from the Federal Government and the other from Emefiele. The government’s application aimed to appeal the bail granted to Emefiele on July 25. The second application, filed by Emefiele, aimed to halt his prosecution on charges of illegal firearm and ammunition possession by the government.
During the hearing, the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mohammed Abubakar, made an oral application to withdraw the charges against Emefiele. Abubakar cited new emerging facts requiring further investigation as the reason for the application and urged the court to grant it.
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Emefiele’s counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN), opposed the application, arguing that the government had violated the court’s order regarding Emefiele’s bail. Daudu asserted that the application to withdraw the charges should be presented in writing to prevent legal process abuse.
Emefiele was granted N20 million bail on July 25, after being arraigned on charges of illegal firearm and ammunition possession. However, on the same day, State Security Service operatives re-arrested Emefiele within the court’s premises following the proceedings. The court had initially ordered his remand at a facility of the Nigeria Correctional Service until the bail conditions were met.
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