Following an ex parte motion, in the suit marked FCT/HC/CV/040/2023, against the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Attorney-General of the Federation, the EFCC Chairman, and the EFCC, the judge ordered the EFCC to release Emefiele unconditionally or produce him in court on November 6.
The anti-graft, however, neither released Emefiele nor took him to court on November 6 as ordered by the judge, prompting the judge to restate his order and mandate the anti-graft agency to bring Emefiele before him on Wednesday.
Around 12:30 pm on Wednesday, the EFCC finally brought Emefiele to court.
Dressed in a yellow Kaftan and a cap, the ex-CBN governor was led into the courtroom by heavily armed EFCC operatives.
In his submission, counsel for the AGF, Oyin Koleoso, argued that it was untrue that Emefiele had been in detention for 100 days.
He told the court that a notice of preliminary objection and affidavit of fact had been filed in the case.
Koleoso urged the judge not to release Emefiele on bail, saying the Federal Government was set to arraign him on November 15, in another pending matter.
“Our humble application is that in the interest of the administration of justice, My Lord should decline the application for the release of the applicant to avoid a situation where the arraignment will be stalled.
“Releasing him will pose further problems for the prosecution to get him to attend court for his arraignment. We urge the court to decline the exercise of discretion in favour of the applicant for bail.”
Similarly, counsel for the EFCC, Farouk Abdullahi, argued that Emefiele was being kept in custody based on a subsisting court order.
He told the judge that the court ordered that the former CBN governor be brought back on November 10.
He said, “The issue of bail is at the court’s discretion. However, parties may bring facts before the court to enable the court to make a decision in the interest of justice.
“The applicant only came into the custody of the 4th respondent on October 26 and he has been in the custody of the respondents pursuant to a detention order made by the court. This fact is contained in the notice of preliminary objection filed in this court.
“Therefore, My Lord, the 4th respondent is not acting arbitrarily but within the confines of legality. In fact, My Lord, the court that gave the order gave a return date of November 10, 2023.
“In deciding this matter, Let us take into cognizance the fact that he will be arraigned in a criminal case that had been scheduled to come up on November 15. We pray, My Lord to decline bail and instead reiterate your earlier directive that he should be brought to court on November 15 to avoid giving two conflicting directives. “
But in his argument, counsel for Emefiele, Mathew Bukkar (SAN), said the court was empowered to grant bail to an applicant.
Bukkar said, “We do not have two FGs. There was an inter-agency committee set up which had EFCC and others to investigate the applicant. Order 4 rule 4(C) of the Fundamental Enforcement Act empowers the court to release him on bail.
“The applicant has not been served and this shows the investigation has ended since August because the charge they are talking about was filed in August. “
Burka said if granted bail, Emefiele would not abscond.
“It is speculative. Nothing to show he’s a flight risk or that he has the capacity to stop the FG from arraigning him. The state loses nothing by granting him bail.”
Justice Adeniyi then asked Emefiele if he had been served any court process relating to the November 15 case.
“I have not been served, My Lord, “ Emefiele said.
In his ruling, the judge held that Section 298(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, empowered the court to make necessary orders, even when there is a remand order against an applicant.
“The fact that must not be overlooked is that he has been in custody for over 100 days. Even when a detention warrant subsists the court can make orders releasing an applicant during the remand period,” he added.
He noted that his proposed arraignment was not enough reason to deny him bail.
Adeniyi, however, released the former CBN governor to his counsel and ordered them to produce him at court proceedings.
He said, “The fact that he’s going to be arraigned will not stop the court from admitting him to bail. There must be an end to prolonged detention. I hereby order him to be released on bail to his counsel who are charged to produce him on the day prospectively scheduled for his arraignment or at any other date that he is required to appear in court.
“All his international documents must be deposited with the registrar of this court pending the determination of his case
The Punch
