Emefiele is now free to leave the FCT- court.

Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court has approved Godwin Emefiele’s request to leave the FCT. He was the former governor of the Central Bank.

However, the court has ordered Emefiele to remain in the country. A condition of his release was that he remain within the FCT. Emefiele had requested a modification to the terms through his attorney, Mathew Bukka, SAN.

Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, who represents the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), did not raise any objections.

He admonished the judge to have Emefiele sign a document promising to stay in the nation if his plea was accepted.

Additionally, the former CBN governor now faces 20 charges, up from 6.

The new list of accusations against Emefiele includes: conspiracy to commit crime, forgery, criminal breach of trust, procurement fraud, and forgery.

Emefiele was granted bail in the amount of N300 million with two sureties in the same quantity on December 24, 2023, by the court.

Emefiele was released from the Kuje Correctional Centre after his lawyers finalised his bail conditions, according to Channels Television, which was reported by his counsel, Mathew Burkaa, who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

Using his position to grant a contract for the acquisition of 43 vehicles worth N1.2 billion between 2018 and 2020 to Sa’adatu Yaro, an employee of the CBN, Emefiele was charged with six counts of procurement fraud and using his position to bestow a corrupt advantage on Yaro.

During his remand in Kuje, Emefiele was ordered to keep to the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) and to surrender any travel documents he possessed to the court registrar.

Justice Hamza Muazu has already started the trial over his suspected purchase of vehicles.

After President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele from his position as governor of the CBN in June of last year, the Department of State Services (DSS) initially took him into jail.

At the time, DSS spokesperson Peter Afunanya confirmed that Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), was indeed arrested and is currently being held by the DSS for investigative purposes.

“It is strongly encouraged that the public and media exercise extreme caution when reporting and discussing this.”

Following his detention by the DSS, Emefiele sought redress in Abuja’s FCT High Court.

Justice Hamza Muazu gave DSS one week to decide whether to charge Emefiele in court or release him while giving the verdict on his basic human rights lawsuit.