The battle for lawful custody of the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele will resume today at the Federal High Court in Lagos.
First application – filed by the government on August 3 – is seeking leave to appeal against the July 25 order of vacation judge Justice Nicholas Oweibo which granted Emefiele bail.
The second – filed by Emefiele on August 8 – is asking the court to stop the Federal Government from further prosecuting him on the charge of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition or any other charge.
However, The Federal Government filed its application through a Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Nkiru Jones-Nebo.
It should be recalled that Vacation judge, Justice Oweibo, had on July 25, granted Emefiele N20million bail on a two-count charge of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. He ordered his remand at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre, pending the fulfilment of his bail conditions but the SSS rearrested the embattled bank chief after fighting off NCoS officials on the court’s premises.
According to sources, it was gathered that the application seeks to invoke the jurisdiction of the court to enforce its orders so as not to be seen “as a toothless bulldog or paper tiger.”
The applicant also argued that the processes seek to preserve and protect the “efficacy, majesty and integrity of the court as well as the rule of law in our democracy.
