Justice Adegbola Adeniyi, the presiding judge at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, has ordered for the unconditional and instant release of the immediate-past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele.
Justice Adeniyi had made the call after Emefiele filed a Motion Ex-parte, looking to be set free from the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission–EFCC, until the hearing and determination of the Originating Motion.
Alternatively, the EFCC were ordered to produce Emefiele in court on Monday, November 6, 2023– the date fixed for the hearing of the substantive Motion on Notice– with the possibility of being admitted to bail by the law court.
The applicant had listed the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Attorney-General of the Federation–AGF, the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, and the EFCC itself as the respondents for the case.
Recall that Emefiele had in an ex-parte motion he filed before the court, solicited for an order to compel the EFCC to set him free from custody, until the determination of his fundamental right enforcement suit.
As an alternative, he had asked the court to grant him bail.
Emefiele had been suspended from office as the head of Nigeria’s apex bank: CBN on June 9, 2023 by President Bola Tinubu.
