*Pix above: The embattled Emefiele
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Ex-CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has finally struggled his way out of his detention abode, Kuje Prison, a couple of days to the Yuletide, after fulfilling his bail condition of N300m.
Emefiele, who is being prosecuted for a N1.2bn.procurement fraud, was released on Friday, December 22.
The spokesperson for the Kuje Correctional Centre, FCT, Adamu Duza, confirmed the development on Saturday.
“I can confirm to you that he (Emefiele) has met condition his bail conditions, hence he has no reason to remain in our facility. He met his bail and was released past 2pm yesterday (Friday),” Duza said.
Emefiele was granted a bail of N300 million by Justice Hamaza Muazu at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja. The bail conditions include two sureties, each responsible for an equivalent amount.
Meanwhile, the former CBN chief faces increasing pressure as the CBN Special Investigator, Jim Obazee, accuses him and others of embezzling billions of naira and committing various financial crimes.
In a report presented by Obazee to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on December 9, 2023, Emefiele, who served as the Governor of the apex bank from June 2014 to June 2023, is accused of involvement in fraudulent cash withdrawals amounting to $6.23 million.
Additionally, he is alleged to have committed fraud in the redesign of the naira, besides not receiving an approval to do it, among other offences.
An online newspaper, which saw a copy of Obazee’s submission to President Tinubu, also reported that Emefiele was found to have manipulated the exchange rate, fraudulently used the Ways and Means to the tune of N26.6tn, launched fraudulent intervention programmes, made fraudulent expenditures on COVID-19, and manipulated presidential approval, among other things.
Consequently, Obazee recommended that Emefiele and others, including his deputy governors, be prosecuted for financial offences.
With regards to the controversial naira redesign, which eventually led to acute naira scarcity and inflicted hardship on millions of Nigerians, Obazee said the process violated the CBN Act.
He was quoted as saying the redesign was neither recommended by the Board of the CBN nor approved by the then President, Muhammadu Buhari, “contrary to the provisions of Section 19 (1) of the CBN Act, 2007.
The online newspaper added that Obazee said the naira redesign “was a conspiracy against the Nigerian people and specifically the political class to Emefiele’s political advantage since he nursed a failed presidential bid… “It was indeed meant to frustrate the political class and make their election agenda very difficult. It turned out to be a huge punishment to Nigerians and the Nigerian Economy coincidentally.”
The former CBN Governor has been in custody since he was arrested by the DSS in June after his ouster. He is currently being tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which has accused him of committing a N1.2bn procurement fraud. That trial had opened on November 29, 2023, days before Mr Obazee submitted the report of his investigation to President Tinubu.
*Tags: Godwin Emefiele, Jim Obazee, CBN, EFCC, DSS, Adamu Duza, PBAT
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