After being freed on bail by the Abuja High Court, former CBN Governor Godwin emefiele has returned to his residence in Abuja after 151 days in custody.
It is recalled that President Tinubu suspended him from his post as head of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on June 9.
Emefiele was later picked up by the State Security Service (SSS) at his residence in Lagos.
On October 26, the former CBN chief was transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detention facility.
According to Naija News, a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Maitama on Wednesday ordered the release of the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor from pre-trial detention, despite legal challenges from the AGF and EFCC.
In its order, the court in Maitama gave the green light to the former governor to see his lawyers, but also ordered him to hand over all his international travel documents.
“There must be an end to detention without trial,” The judge noted that, in its previous order of November 2, the court had ordered the Anti-graft Agency to either unconditionally release the Applicant or to produce him for the bail application to be examined.
In his order, Justice Adeniyi stated that the first part of the order had not been complied with by the EFCC, which was the reason why Emefiele had been produced in court on Wednesday.
The judge further ordered that the three SANs representing Emefiele be released and that they should appear before the court on the date of his scheduled arraignment or any other date for which he was required to appear.
Judge Adeniyi ordered him to hand over all his international papers to the senior court Registrar until he is arraigned. He then adjourned the case until November 17.
Emefiele was arraigned on Wednesday before the High Court in Abuja by armed security officers attached to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). During the brief hearing, he said he had not yet received any copy of the new charge against him.
Burkaa, his lawyer, had asked the court not to grant bail on the basis of the preliminary objection and the affidavit of fact filed by the AGF, claiming that they had not yet received a copy of the charges.
“My lord, even as at this moment, they have not served my client with the charge they claimed has been filed against him.
“The submission that his release on bail will impede his arraignment is highly speculative. There is nothing suggesting that the Applicant is a flight risk or that he had at any time made himself unavailable for trial.
“My lord, let the Applicant breathe! The fact is that the state loses nothing by releasing the Applicant to bail,” he pleaded.
Turning to Emefiele, who was sitting in the gallery, Justice Adeniyi said: “Let us hear from the Applicant if he has been served. Applicant, have you been served,” the judge queried Emefiele.
Responding, the frail-looking ex-CBN governor said: “My lord, I don’t have any charge.”
However, according to Vanguard, in anticipation of being arrested again by security agents, he drove away from the court in a Jeep that one of his attorneys had brought with him shortly after the proceedings were closed.
