Former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has again, appeared before Justice Hamza Muazu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in Abuja, News About Nigeria reports.
Emefiele was re-arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday on the amended charges, which contained 20 counts as against the earlier six.
The EFCC, which re-arraigned the former governor on behalf of the Federal Government, did so on a 20-count charge bordering on conferring corrupt advantage, forgery, and obtaining by false pretence.
Emefiele however, pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
The charges against Emefiele involve his alleged awarding of six different contracts to a female staff member of the CBN, totaling N1,210,600,000, between 2018 and 2020.
The charge stated that the contracts were awarded to a company where the said staff member is a director. The prosecution added 14 more counts to the initial charges against Emefiele.
Following his plea of not guilty, the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo SAN, asked the court to set a date for trial.
Emefiele’s counsel, on the other hand, requested that his client be allowed to continue enjoying the bail that he was granted earlier, and the court granted this request.
The prosecution, however, maintained that its interest was in having Emefiele attend court for trial, to which the court ordered that the former governor continue to enjoy the bail granted to him.
Recall that the EFCC arraigned Emefiele on November 17, 2023, before Justice Muazu on a six-count charge bordering on conferring advantage on a female staff member of the CBN, contrary to the provision of Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
