The trial of Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has been adjourned to June 24 by a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama.
The Cable reports that neither the prosecution counsel nor the defendant was present in court during Thursday’s hearing. However, Emefiele was represented by one of his counsels.
I.D Ahmed, representing the defendant, informed the court that the prosecution had requested an adjournment.
The presiding judge, Hamza Muazu, expressed dissatisfaction with the defendant’s absence despite the prosecution’s request for an adjournment.
Muazu emphasized that the defendant’s absence was not justified solely by the prosecution’s adjournment letter.
The trial was adjourned until June 24 and June 25 for continuation.
The federal government had amended the criminal charges against Emefiele on January 18, increasing the counts from six to 20.
The amended charges include alleged criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, procurement fraud, and conspiracy to commit a felony.
During the previous hearing, the court varied Emefiele’s bail condition, allowing him to travel within Nigeria but prohibiting him from leaving the country during the trial.
According to the amended charge marked CR/577/2023, Emefiele is accused of forging a document titled: ‘RE: PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE ON FOREIGN ELECTION OBSERVER MISSIONS’, dated 26 January 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201.
The EFCC alleges that Emefiele made false claims in January 2023 and committed an offence contrary to section 1(1) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
Furthermore, the charge states that Emefiele, on February 8, 2023, conspired with one Odoh Ocheme, who is currently on the run, to obtain $6.2m from the CBN, claiming that the SGF requested it “vide a letter dated 26th January 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201″.