Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), refuted allegations of illegal redesign of the Naira, the country’s currency, in 2022, during his court appearance on Wednesday.
He pleaded not guilty to the four charges brought against him before Justice Maryanne Anenih at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama, Abuja.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) accused Emefiele of initiating the Naira redesign without the necessary approvals from the CBN Board and then-President Muhammadu Buhari. The EFCC alleges that Emefiele authorized the printing of various amounts of the new Naira notes without the required recommendations from the CBN Board and the President’s strict approval, which they claim resulted in public harm.
The first charge accuses Emefiele of authorizing the printing of 375,520,000 notes costing N11 billion. The second charge alleges that he approved the printing of 172 million colored swapped N500 notes at a cost of N4.4 billion. The third charge claims that Emefiele authorized the printing of 137,070 colored N200 notes costing N3.4 billion. The fourth charge alleges that Emefiele withdrew N124,860,227 from the Federation’s Consolidated Revenue Fund in a manner not prescribed by the National Assembly.
Emefiele denied all four charges. His lawyer, Mahmud Magaji, SAN, then applied for bail, referring to a previous bail granted by Justice Hamza Muazu of the same FCT High Court in Maitama.
Justice Anenih, ruling on the bail application, noted that a defendant is entitled to bail and is presumed innocent until proven guilty. She found compelling reasons to grant the application and subsequently granted Emefiele bail on similar terms and conditions as those granted by Justice Muazu, with minor modifications.
Justice Muazu had previously granted Emefiele bail in the amount of N300 million with two sureties of equal value. Justice Anenih stipulated that the sureties must be responsible citizens who own property within the FCT worth the bail bonds. The property documents must be verified and deposited with the court registry until the case is resolved.
In addition to Justice Muazu’s ruling, Justice Anenih required the two sureties to deposit two recent passport photos and their National Identity cards or international passports. She also stipulated that Emefiele should not leave the country without the court’s permission.
The trial is set to commence on May 28.
