A federal high court in Lagos has fixed July 25 for the
arraignment of Godwin Emefiele, suspended governor of the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN).
It is understood that hearing notices have been sent out by
the court to counsels involved in the matter.
Joseph Daudu, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), will be
leading the defendant’s case while Nicholas Oweibo will serve as the presiding
judge.
On June 9, President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele and
asked him to transfer his responsibilities to Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, CBN
deputy governor, operations directorate.
A day later, the Department of State Services (DSS)
announced that Emefiele was in its custody for “some investigative reasons”.
The suspended CBN governor has been in DSS custody since his
arrest.
On July 13, Peter Afunanya, spokesperson of the DSS,
confirmed that the agency had filed charges against Emefiele.
The DSS charged him with two counts bordering on alleged
possession of firearms.
In the first count, Emefiele is accused of possessing a
single-barrel shotgun (JOJEFF MAGNUM 8371) without a licence, which is contrary
to Section 4 of the Firearms Act, and punishable under Section 27 (1b) of the
same Act.
In the second count, the suspended CBN governor is accused
of having in his possession 123 rounds of live ammunition (cartridges) without
a licence, which is contrary to Section 8 of the Firearms Act and punishable
under Section 27 (1)(b)(il) of the same Act.
Emefiele had earlier filed an application before the court
seeking bail on self-recognisance.
He argued that the charges for which he was accused are
bailable.
He said he has never been convicted of a crime and should
enjoy the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, adding that he is not a
flight risk.
Emefiele also said granting him bail would afford him
adequate time to prepare his defence.
He added that since investigations have been concluded,
there is no likelihood of interference on his part.
The defendant pledged to show up for trial on time and
expressed his willingness to offer responsible sureties required by the court.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com