A High Court sitting in Abuja has warned the Federal Government over its failure to appear in court for the ongoing trial of Godwin Emefiele, former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, who is facing a 20-count amended charge related to alleged procurement fraud involving N1.2 billion.
Emefiele, who served as CBN governor between 2014 and 2023, is being prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (OAGF) on charges including criminal breach of trust, conferring corrupt advantage, conspiracy, forgery, and obtaining money by false pretence.
The federal government alleges that Emefiele abused his office by awarding six contracts for the supply of vehicles to April 1616 Investment Ltd. between 2018 and 2022.
The company is linked to Sa’adatu Ramalan Yaro, a CBN staff member and shareholder. The contracts were worth a total of N1,210,600,000.
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Emefiele has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, Emefiele’s counsel, Mathew Burkaa, SAN, urged the court to foreclose the prosecution’s case, citing the absence of the lead prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, and his team, despite prior knowledge of the court date.
Burkaa said no representative from the OAGF was present and criticised the prosecution’s absence.
He told the court he had been informed via WhatsApp by the court registrar that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had submitted a letter requesting an adjournment.
He argued that since the EFCC is not the prosecuting authority in the case, the request was irregular. He questioned why none of the prosecuting lawyers, including Oyedepo, could appear in court.
Burkaa reminded the court that the prosecution had previously requested an accelerated hearing and said the repeated delays were unfair to the defence.
He also noted that Emefiele and his legal team had travelled from Lagos to attend the proceedings.
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In his ruling, Justice Hamza Muazu expressed concern over the prosecution’s absence but granted them one final opportunity to appear.
“The court will do the needful should the prosecution fail to appear at the next adjourned date,” Justice Muazu said.
The matter was adjourned to October 22 for continuation of the hearing.
