After several weeks of being detained, the Department of State Services (DSS) may charge the embattled governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to court any time from now, it has been reliably gathered.
This is coming a few hours after Justice H. Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama ordered the state service to charge Emefiele to court within seven days or release him from its detention facility.
At the court, the DSS lawyer, I. Awo, had contended that Emefiele “was arrested upon reasonable suspicion of committing acts which constitutes criminal breach of trust, incitement to violence, criminal misappropriation of public funds, economic sabotage, economic crimes of national security dimensions and undermining the security of Nigeria.”
He had told the court on June 20 that the DSS needed more time to conclude its investigation.
The legal team from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation also urged the court to decline jurisdiction on Emefiele’s request for release or bail.
But the suspended CBN governor’s lawyer, J. Daudu SAN, maintained that his client cannot be kept in detention for over a month without a formal charge.
In his verdict on Thursday, the presiding judge, Justice Muazu, held that the continued detention of the suspended CBN governor cannot continue when there is no formal charge against him.
“I hereby make an order that the respondents within one week charge the applicant to court or release him on bail,” the judge held.
After the court rose, an official familiar with developments at the DSS, said that “he (Emefiele) will be charged soon” by the federal government agencies.
It was also gathered that Emefiele’s arraignment will align with the DSS’ allegations of criminal breach of trust, incitement to violence, criminal misappropriation of public funds, economic sabotage, and economic crimes of national security dimensions.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had on June 9 suspended the CBN governor from office, to enable investigation into allegations against him.
The CBN Deputy Governor in charge of Operations, Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, was subsequently directed by the president to step in an acting capacity.
Emefiele was arrested by the DSS afterward and has since been at its detention facility.
