Former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has arrived at the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, on Monday in his ongoing trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He is being arraigned before Justice Rahman Oshodi for abuse of office bordering on alleged irregular allocation of billions of US dollars in foreign exchange.
Mr Emefiele is facing a 26-count charge alongside his co-defendant, Henry Omoile.
Mr Emefiele and Mr Omoile had pleaded not guilty to all the charges levelled against them as of the time of filing this report.
The charge sheet, marked ID/23787c/2024, was filed by Rotimi Oyedepo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Counts
The 1st count states that Mr Emefiele committed an abuse of office between 2022 and 2023 in Lagos, an offence punishable under Section 73 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
The count alleged that Mr Emefiele “directed to be done in abuse of the authority of your office, as the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, an arbitrary act, to wit: allocating foreign exchange in the aggregate sum of $2,136,391,737.33 without bids, which act is prejudicial to the rights of Nigerians.”
Count two, also of abuse of office, alleged that the former bank chief between 2020 and 2021, in Lagos, “directed to be done in abuse of the authority of your office, as the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, an arbitrary, act to wit: allocating foreign exchange in the aggregate sum of $291,945,785.59, without bids, which act is prejudicial to the rights of Nigerians.
In the 3rd count, Mr Emefiele was alleged to have, in 2021, in Lagos, “directed to be done in abuse of the authority of your office, as the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, an arbitrary act, to wit: special allocation of foreign exchange in the aggregate sum of $1,769,254,793.16, which act is prejudicial to the rights of Nigerians.”
In count four, the sum involved was $370,872,893.01.
In count five, Mr Emefiele’s co-defendant Mr Omoile was accused of “about the 17th of November, 2020, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst acting as an agent, accepted from Raja Punjab through Monday Osazuwa, the total sum of $110,000, for Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, gifts as reward for allocating foreign exchange by the Central Bank in favour of Raja Punjab’s employer.”
Details later…
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