The Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja has stepped into the legal drama surrounding Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, taking up allegations of gratification, corrupt demands, and fraudulent acquisition of property.
Justice Rahman Oshodi, in a ruling delivered on Wednesday, declared that the court has territorial jurisdiction to hear counts 8 to 20 of the 26-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
These charges include allegations of corruption, gratification, and abuse of office. The judge cited “various facts presented in the evidence attached to the case file” as the basis for the court’s authority. The court ruled that counts 1 to 4 were unconstitutional, as they were not grounded in any existing Nigerian law. Classic.
The EFCC had dragged Emefiele to court on April 8, 2024, over a 26-count charge. Among the accusations are abuse of office, irregular allocation of $4.5 billion, and N2.8 billion. Let those numbers sink in. Specifically, counts 1 to 4 alleged general abuse of office, while counts 8 to 26 dealt with more pointed accusations such as accepting gratification, corrupt demands, and fraudulent receipt of property. All of these are offenses under Nigeria’s Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and the Criminal Law of Lagos 2011.
Justice Oshodi struck out the first four counts, stating, “While counts 1 to 4 relate to general abuse of office, the specific conduct alleged—allocation of foreign exchange without a bid, is not defined as an offense in any written law.”.
On counts 8 to 26, however, the judge upheld the court’s jurisdiction, dismissing Emefiele’s objection. Oshodi clarified, “This finding is limited solely to the jurisdictional objection and does not address the merits of the allegations.”
The trial will resume on February 24 and 26, prolonging this saga that’s already drenched in controversy.
