On Thursday, Justice O. Adeniji, presiding over the High Court in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, issued a decisive order for the immediate and unconditional release of the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, from the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
This ruling came as a result of an ex parte motion presented by Emefiele’s legal team. The defendants in this case, marked as FCT/HC/CV/040/2023/M/122/2023, include the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Attorney General of the Federation, the EFCC, and its chairman, Ola Olukoyede.
Justice Adeniji, in his decision on the application, stated, “The third and fourth respondents are hereby ordered to unconditionally release the applicant from detention forthwith or in the alternative produce him in court on the date fixed for hearing of the substantive motion on notice for purposes of being admitted to bail by the court.”
“It is hereby further ordered that the motion on notice shall be heard on November 11, 2023. The instant order together with the Motion on Notice shall be served on the respondents on Thursday, November 2, 2023.”
It was reported that Emefiele was apprehended by the EFCC on October 27, immediately after his release from the Department of State Services, where he had been held since June 10.
The former CBN chief had been taken into custody by the DSS in June, shortly after President Bola Tinubu instructed his suspension.