EFCC arraigns Emefiele Wednesday over naira redesign
Barring any last-minute change, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission will arraign former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, on Wednesday, for approving the printing of N684.5 million notes at the rate of N18.96 billion.
The AGF’s office and the anti-graft agency also accused Emefiele of unlawfully approving the withdrawal of N124.8bn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.
The four new charges, dated April 2, 2024, were filed by the EFFC’s prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN) alongside eight other lawyers acting on behalf of the AGF.
The arraignment initially scheduled for April 30, 2024, was rescheduled following the court’s and the parties’ agreement.
In the four-count charge filed against Emefiele, they alleged that the embattled ex-CBN boss disobeyed the direction of law with an intent to cause injury to the public during his implementation of the naira swap policy during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The former CBN governor will be arraigned before Justice Maryann Anenih of the FCT High Court, Abuja.
On November 17, 2023, Emefiele was arraigned before Justice Hamza Muazu on a six-count of procurement fraud to which he pleaded not guilty.
He was also accused of abusing his office by approving a contract for the acquisition of 43 vehicles totalling N1.2bn from 2018 to 2020.
On April 8, 2024, the EFCC also arraigned the former banker alongside one Henry Omoile before Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos State, for an alleged $4.5bn and N2.8bn fraud. He also pleaded not guilty to the charge.
