Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has been granted bail by the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja. The bail amount is set at N50 million. This decision follows his earlier remand in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) pending a ruling on his bail application.
Emefiele’s co-defendant, Henry Omoile, was remanded in Ikoyi Correctional Centre as the court issued a remand order after the defendants faced charges including abuse of office and fraud amounting to about $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion, with three counts specifically related to Omoile.
Both Emefiele and Omoile pleaded not guilty to the charges during their arraignment.
In the recent ruling, Judge Rahman Oshodi granted Emefiele bail with two sureties in the same sum, stipulating that they must be gainfully employed with three years of tax payments to the Lagos State Government. The sureties must also have proper identification and be registered in the Lagos State Bail Management System.
While Emefiele’s co-defendant had previously been granted bail under different conditions, the judge required that the bail documents be transferred to the special offences court and registered in the Lagos State Bail Management System.
The EFCC had earlier arraigned Emefiele on 23 counts, including abuse of office and corruption charges, while his co-defendant faced three counts related to accepting gifts as agents. Both defendants entered pleas of not guilty.
Emefiele also faces a separate trial at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja for alleged corrupt activities during his tenure as CBN governor.
As of now, legal counsels are pushing for accelerated hearing and trial proceedings.m
