•Emefiele
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has restated its earlier order directing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to either release former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele unconditionally or produce him in court tomorrow for him to get bail.
Justice Olukayode Adeniyi restated the order yesterday at the resumed hearing in a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Emefiele, reports The Nation.
The judge had, on November 2, while ruling on an ex parte application filed by Emefiele, ordered the EFCC to either release him unconditionally or produce him on November 6 for the court to grant him bail.
But when the case was called yesterday, Emefiele’s lawyer, Matthew Burkaa (SAN), told the court that the EFCC and its chairman had refused to comply with the court’s order given on November 2.
Burkaa said Emefiele had been in the custody of the state for 149 days without any justification.
But EFCC’s lawyer Farouk Abdullah said Emefiele had only been in his client’s custody for about seven days.
Abdullah said there was a misunderstanding about what order was made.
The lawyer said he thought the order was for the EFCC to either release Emefiele or produce him in court to take arguments on his pending motion.
Justice Adeniyi intervened, saying there was no ambiguity in the court order.
The judge said the order was meant to compel the EFCC to either release Emefiele unconditionally or produce him to get bail before the hearing of the pending motion on notice.
Abdullah said although the documents filed by Emefiele had been served on his clients, they could not file their reply because a document referred to in one of the ex-CBN governor’s affidavits was not attached.
He prayed the court to direct the applicant to supply his client the missing document to enable them reply accordingly and set the records straight.
Lawyer to the federal government and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Oyin Koleosho, averred that his clients were constrained by the missing document.
Ruling, Justice Adeniyi held that another document was also not attached by the applicant, making them two.
He ordered them to provide the documents to enable the respondents file their responses and to be included in the court’s file.
The judge restated the order he made on November 2 and adjourned till tomorrow.
