The Federal Capital Territory High Court has ordered that former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele be held in the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the outcome of his bail application.
Chronicle NG reports that Emefiele is on trial for alleged procurement fraud.
The trial, which had been postponed three times, was eventually convened on Friday.
The Federal Government had initially proposed N6.5 billion in procurement fraud charges against the former CBN governor.
However, the FG reduced the counts to six for a total of over N1 billion, and he was arraigned on Friday.
During the Friday sessions, Emefiele’s attorney, Mathew Burkaa SAN, argued for bail, but the FG counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, was adamantly against giving bail to the former CBN governor.
The presiding judge, Justice Hamza Muazu, stated that a bench verdict could not be issued due to the numerous authorities mentioned by the two sides.
The judge stated that he required some time to study the authorities and go over the materials provided by Emefiele to support his bail plea.
He did, however, order Emefiele’s remand at the Kuje jail until the outcome of his bail application.
Muazu subsequently deferred the case until November 22 to rule on the bail application and November 28 to begin the trial.
His remand order comes after Justice Olukayode Adeniyi ordered that he be released to his lawyers on November 8 after being detained for 151 days.
