N6.9bn fraud: Again, Emefiele, CBN official’s arraignment stalled

The arraignment of the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, and two others before a High Court sitting in Abuja failed to hold on Wednesday, August 23, 2023.

Though the court sat to hear other cases, no reason was given for the failure of the arraignment of the embattled Emefiele and his other co-defendants.

Emefiele is charged by the Federal Government alongside a female CBN official, Sa’adatu Yaro, and her company, April 1616 Investment Limited, on 20 charges of procurement fraud, conspiracy and conferment of corrupt advantages on his associates.

The arraignment was first scheduled to be held on August 17 but was stalled due to the absence of the second defendant, Yaro.

She was said to have been ill, though Emefiele was brought to court by the operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS).

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When the matter was called before the presiding judge, Justice Hamza Muazu, the prosecution counsel, Mohammed Abubakar, who is the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in the Federal Ministry of Justice, told the court that Yaro took ill and as such could not make it to court for the arraignment.

Due to the development, Abubakar sought a new date for the arraignment of Emefiele and the two co-defendants in the suit.

The application was, however, not objected to by counsel for suspended CBN Governor, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), and counsel for Yaro, Lawal Lebi.

Following the application with no objection from the defence team, Justice Muazu adjourned the case to August 23 for arraignment of the defendants.

However, the matter was not listed on the court’s cause list, while neither the prosecution nor defence teams were in court.

When contacted, Emefiele’s counsel, Akinlolu, said a new date for the arraignment may be given by the FCT Chief Judge, Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf.

The Star