A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja has rejected an application by the Department of State Services, DSS, who had sought an order to prolong the detention of embattled and ‘disgraced’ Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
According to Channels News Television, the appeal was covertly filed by the DSS’s legal team on Wednesday, July 26, on grounds of an alleged new evidence the secret service had obtained.
Justice Hamza Muazu had dismissed the application, citing an abuse of court process and lack of jurisdiction.
The DSS had made the application after Emefiele’s had been re-arrested by the agency at the court premises in Lagos, after the court had directed for his remand in a Correctional Centre pending the fulfilment of his bail conditions.
Victor Ejelonu, the DSS’s counsel, had chosen to withdraw the matter after Justice Muazu raised questions about the court’s jurisdiction, given the exclusive rights of the Magistrate Court to allow detention orders under sections 293 & 296 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
