The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has been released from the Kuje Correctional Centre after meeting the bail conditions set by the Federal Capital Territory High Court.
This development follows allegations of abuse of office revealed in a report by Jim Obazee, a special investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu to probe the CBN under Emefiele. The report claimed that Emefiele used proxies to acquire Union Bank and compromised the process leading to the acquisition of Polaris and Keystone banks.
Prior to the report, Emefiele faced a six-count charge of procurement fraud amounting to N1.6bn. He pleaded not guilty, and Justice Hamza Muazu granted him bail at N300m with two sureties holding Certificates of Occupancy on properties in Maitama district, FCT.
Emefiele is also required to submit his passport to the court and is prohibited from leaving the FCT. One of the charges alleges that he used his position as CBN Governor to confer a corrupt advantage by awarding a contract to a company linked to a CBN staff
