On Wednesday, the federal government did not indict Godwin Emefiele, the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and his co-defendant, Sa’adatu Ramallan-Yaro.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, in Abuja, had rescheduled, on Tuesday, August 17 last week, the arraignment of the defendants for Wednesday. The absence of Mrs. Ramallan-Yaro from the court was cited for the postponement of the reading of charges.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mohammed Abubakar, had informed the first instance judge, Hamzat Muazu, that Ms. Ramallan-Yaro could not appear in court due to health problems.
However, on Wednesday, the State Security Service (SSS) failed to bring Emefiele and Ramallan-Yaro to court. Both defendants are in SSS custody.
Neither the prosecution nor the defense teams were in court. Mr. Emefiele’s lawyer, Akinlolu Kehinde, Senior Advocate for Nigeria (SAN), and Ms. Ramallan-Yaro’s lawyer, Abdulhakeem Labi-lawal, were absent.
Newslodge checks revealed that the case was not on Wednesday’s docket, and Mr. Abubakar of the PPD was also not in court.
No official was available to explain what appeared to be an indefinite adjournment agreed between the parties to the case and the court.
Background
Mr Emefiele was charged together with Ms Ramalan-Yaro and her company, April 1616 Investment Limited.
Mr Emefiele and Ms Ramalan-Yaro, a CBN staff member, were charged with conspiracy and procurement fraud of up to 6.9 billion naira.
The charges alleged that Emefiele conferred corrupt advantages on Ramalan-Yaro, using his company, April 1616 Investment Limited, to execute a series of procurement contracts spanning years.
The government alleged that the defendants committed the crimes by awarding contracts to Ms. Ramalan-Yaro’s company for the supply of automobiles.
The defendants, allegedly through corrupt transactions, purchased a fleet of some 100 fancy cars and armored buses worth approximately 6.9 billion naira.
The alleged corrupt transactions took place between 2018 and 2020, according to the charges.
Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Act 2000, under which he was charged, provides for a five-year prison term on conviction.
“Any public official who uses his office or office to gratify or confer any corrupt or unfair advantage on himself or any relative or associate of the public official or any other public official shall be guilty of an offense and, if convicted, may be punished with imprisonment for five years without the option of a fine”, stipulates the law.
President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele as governor of the CBN on June 9. The next day, June 10, the SSS picked him up in Lagos and flew him to his headquarters in Abuja for questioning.
Since then, Mr. Emefiele has been in SSS custody. Ms. Ramalan-Yaro, who was arrested along with her husband, Aminu Yaro, on 12 July, also remains in SSS custody.
This newspaper reported how the FCT High Court ordered the release of the couple on July 25. But the order was not carried out.
It took an order from the FCT High Court on July 13, more than a month after the arrest, for the SSS to file firearms possession charges against Mr. Emefiele.
Subsequently, on 25 July, the SSS indicted him before the Lagos Federal High Court on two counts of “illegal possession” of firearms and live ammunition.
Subsequently, the government petitioned the court to drop the firearms possession charges against Mr. Emefiele.
Newslodge also reported that Mr Emefiele’s co-defendant in the new charges also has a pending money laundering case involving around 140 billion naira.
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