A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has been remanded in Kuje prison pending the determination of his request for bail.
The order was given on Friday by Justice Hamza Muazu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
The judge ruled that Emefiele will remain in prison until November 22, when the court will deliver a ruling on his bail motion.
The application for bail was moved by Emefiele’s lead counsel, Mathew Burkaa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), but it was vehemently opposed by Rotimi Oyedepo on behalf of the Federal Government.
After taking arguments for and against the application, Justice Muazu said a bench ruling could not be delivered in view of the plethora of authorities cited by the two parties.
The Judge said he needed a little time to study the authorities and peruse through the exhibits supplied by Emefiele to support his request for bail.
At the time of this report, officials of the Kuje prison authority have been contacted to bring a vehicle to convey him to prison.
Emefiele, dressed in blue Guinea Brocade babaringa with a Hausa cap to match, was brought to court for arraignment by his lead counsel Mathew in compliance with an order of court.
The former apex bank head, who was accused of conferring corruption advantages on a staff of CBN, Mrs Saadat Ramalan Yaro, through awards of various contracts, however, denied the six count charges.
Emefiele’s woe started when President Bola Tinubu suspended him via a statement signed by Willie Bassey, Director of Information at the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Bassey said in a terse statement, “Mr Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), who will act as the Central Bank Governor pending the conclusion of the investigation and the reforms.”