The Director of the Public Ministry (DPP) of the Federal Ministry of JusticeMohammed Abubakar, explained why Godwin Emefiele and his co-defendant were not prosecuted on corruption charges on Wednesday.
Abubakar also spoke about the allegedly ongoing plea bargain talks between the prosecution and Emefiele.
Emefiele, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Sa’adatu Ramallan-Yaro were charged with being arraigned on 6.9 billion naira corruption charges in the Federal Capital Territory High Court (FCT). ) in Maitama.
But the State Security Service (SSS) failed to bring Emefiele and Ramallan-Yaro to court. Both defendants are in SSS custody.
Neither the prosecution headed by the Public Ministry, Mr. Abubakar, nor the defense teams were in court for the case that was due to go before Hamzat Muazu, judge of the Maitama Division of the FCT High Court.
Mr. Emefiele’s lawyer, Akinlolu Kehinde, Senior Advocate for Nigeria (SAN), and Ms. Ramallan-Yaro’s lawyer, Abdulhakeem Labi-lawal, were absent.
This newspaper reported that Wednesday was the second time that the scheduled arraignment for Mr. Emefiele and Ms. Ramallan-Yaro was suspended.
Early on August 17, Mr. Emefiele was brought before court, but Ms. Ramallan-Yaro was absent due to ill health, a fact that forced the judge to reschedule the couple’s arraignment.
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 corruption in the procurement of vehicles worth up to 6.9 billion naira for the CBN.
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 failure of the arraignment on two consecutive occasions had fueled speculation about ongoing negotiations for a plea agreement between the defense and the prosecution. It was reported that Mr. Emefiele opted for the plea agreement.
‘Security threats’
But speaking exclusively to Newslodge in Abuja on Thursday, the PPD explained that Emefiele was not prosecuted on Wednesday because there were security concerns in court.
“Remember that in the last session, some angry people marched in front of the court threatening to lynch him (Mr. Emefiele),” Abubakar said.
“We were ready to bring the defendants to court for prosecution on Wednesday, but we received an intelligence report that some people were looking to stir up trouble. So we had to file the accusation.”
Contrary to media reports that Emefiele had reached a plea deal with the government, Abubakar said none of that had come up in the case.
He said that neither Mr. Emefiele, his co-defendant, nor the prosecution had made any suggestion for a plea deal.
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“As far as we are concerned, there is no plea bargain request before the Ministry of Justice,” Abubakar said.
However, he added that the law provides for the possibility of a plea agreement, and if “there is any such request, it will be considered.”
A plea agreement is a legal process that allows a defendant accused of a crime in court, usually before the trial begins or reaches an advanced stage, to plead guilty to a misdemeanor in order to obtain a lighter sentence.
Many of the early high-profile corruption cases in which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had won convictions were based on plea deals. Those cases include the late former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeisegha, and the late former Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun.
Background
In last week’s proceedings, protesters mobbed the FCT High Court premises in Maitama, demanding that Mr. Emefiele be flogged for subjecting Nigerians to excruciating pain during the failed CBN currency redesign policy.
“My only wish is that the security personnel hand over Godwin Emefiele to us so that every Nigerian can beat himself with a cane for the suffering he endured,” a protester who declined to reveal his name told this journalist at the courthouse on Thursday. last week.
Another protester wondered how many Nigerians died as a result of their inability to access funds from banks during the CBN’s currency redesign policy.
After the day’s court hearing, protesters besieged both exit points from the court, forcing the SSS agents who had brought Mr. Emefiele to the court to wait for more than an hour before rushing him away in the form of a gestapo. .
In February, the central bank’s currency redesign policy phased out old N200, N500 and N1000 notes.
But the unavailability of the new naira notes stifled socio-economic activities across Nigeria, forcing some state governments to sue the central government.
Due to widespread difficulties, the Nigerian Supreme Court ordered the federal government to halt the currency redesign policy, but then President Muhammadu Buhari and Mr. Emefiele stubbornly pursued its implementation.
new charges
President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele from his position as CBN governor on June 9; the next day he was arrested by the Nigerian secret police, SSS, in Lagos. He was later flown to Abuja, where he is being held.
After holding the head of the main bank for several weeks, the government prosecuted Emefiele before the Federal High Court in Lagos for illegal possession of firearms.
But the two-count charge was later dismissed after it was dropped by the PPD.
On August 14, the government filed a 20-count indictment bordering on procurement fraud against Emefiele and Ramallan-Yaro.
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.
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.
Editing: Adeyemi Adesomoju, Tosin Omoniyi
Produced by: George Ogala
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