Court to hear applications August 15 as Emefiele seeks order to stop further prosecution

*Godwin Emefiele, suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, asks the court to stay further proceedings in the current charge until he exhausts all the remedies available to him in law to compel the Federal Government and the Department of State Services to obey the court order admitting him to bail or remanding him in prison custody until he perfects his bail conditions

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Following his arrest and prosecution, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has requested a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, to discontinue prosecution by the Federal Government, through the Department of State Services (DSS) for alleged possession of firearm and ammunition.

The DSS had arraigned Emefiele July 25, 2023, for allegedly possessing a firearm illegally.

The court later ordered the suspended CBN Chief to be remanded in custody and admitted to bail, but the DSS re-arrested him after some altercation with the men of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) on the court premises in Lagos.

Emefiele is currently seeking an order from the court, clearing him of all charges preferred against him by the DSS in a new application before Justice Nicholas Oweibo, report said.

His attorneys, led by Mr. Joseph Daudu, SAN, claim that the DSS’s actions were in “brazen disobedience” of the court orders granting him bail since July 25.

Emefiele also requested an order barring the Federal Government from receiving any future judicial indulgences unless and until it complies with the bail finding.

His attorneys stated: “Relying on Section 6(6)(a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), relevant sections of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and under the inherent powers of the court, Emefiele wants the court to stay further proceedings in the current charge until he exhausts all the remedies available to him in law to compel the government and the DSS to obey the order of the court admitting him to bail or remanding him in prison custody until he perfects his bail terms.

“In the application, he is seeking to invoke the jurisdiction of the court to enforce its orders, so as not to be seen ‘as a toothless bulldog or paper tiger.’ ”

Emefiele as well claims that the purpose of his most recent application is to safeguard and uphold the “efficacy, majesty, and integrity of the court as well as the rule of law in our democracy,” report stated.

Meanwhile, the DSS has also filed complaints against him, and the court is expected to hear the new applications August 15, 2023.

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