COURT GRANTS EMEFIELE ₦2 BILLION BAIL

A former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, was on Monday granted ₦2 billion in bail by a Federal High Court judge sitting in Abuja.

The eight-count charge against Emefiele included allegedly stealing and seizing billions of naira from proxy accounts, as well as illegally obtaining a housing estate with 753 units.

In his ruling, Justice Halilu Yusuf stated that Emefiele had been granted bail in three other criminal cases that were still pending against him and that there was no evidence that he had jumped bail.

Following that, the judge gave Emefiele bail, but only if he could produce two sureties who were the owners of Asokoro, Maitama, or Wuse 2 property that was under the court’s jurisdiction and had a minimum value of ₦2 billion.

He also told Emefiele to turn in his travel documents to the court and that he would be remanded in custody if he didn’t complete the bail by Wednesday.

Emefiele attorney, Matthew Burkaa, filed the bail application, which was granted.

Prosecutor Rotimi Oyedepo did not raise any objections, but he did ask the court to impose special requirements that were different from what the other courts had previously granted.