Failed re-arrest of Emefiele prompts investigation by reps into EFCC’s actions

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives decided to look into the claims that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) attempted, without success, to kidnap and forcibly remove Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), from the Nigeria Correctional Centre in Kuje, Abuja. This was done in violation of an existing court order that had granted him bail.

Following the filing of a petition with the heading “Is the EFCC pursuing prosecution or persecution?” the House passed the resolution.

Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Phillip Agbese, presented the petition, which was written by Comrade Joshua Abah, Executive Director of the Centre for Social Justice Equity and Transparency (CESJET).

The petitioner contended that the former CBN Governor is being targeted for persecution rather than being prosecuted, despite the fact that the security agencies’ acts constitute a clear violation of the law and amount to disobeying a court’s order.

Thus, Abah implored the legislators to step in and prevent the Commission from misusing the legal system and pursuing Emefiele’s prosecution.

Please see the above subject. It is now necessary to draw your attention to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) egregious defiance of the court order pertaining to the prosecution of Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“On Friday, November 24, 2023, a High Court located in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, granted bail to Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the CBN, in the amount of 300 million naira and two sureties in the same amount, both of whom had to be property owners in the FCT’s Maitama District. Additionally, the Court decided to detain Mr. Godwin Emefiele to the Kuje Correctional Centre until the terms of his bail were fulfilled.

“Mr. Godwin Emefiele was charged with 20 counts at first, but those counts were ultimately dropped to just 6.

This followed a string of baseless accusations by multiple state agencies, including support for terrorism, unlawful gun ownership, and now 20 counts of corruption. The attorney for Mr. Godwin Emefiele told the court following the decision to grant him bail about the state-owned security agencies’ practise of repeatedly and sporadically arresting Mr. Emefiele without cause, particularly the Directorate of State Security Service (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
After learning of this, the Court asked the EFCC Counsel to comment.

“In response, the EFCC Counsel promised on the agency’s behalf that Mr. Emefiele wouldn’t be detained again on the same allegations that are still pending in court. When Mr. Emefiele’s family was still at the court attempting to comply with the terms of his bail, EFCC agents were spotted at Kuje Correctional Centre. They set up a trap to re-arrest and violently remove Mr. Emefiele upon his release from the facility.

As you are aware, sir, bail is a right protected by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 Constitution (as amended), Section 34(4). In order to summon the EFCC to order, it has become necessary to bring this to the attention of the House of Representatives.

“The Security Agencies’ actions amount to disobeying an order from a competent court of law and are a clear affront to the rule of law.” The EFCC and its equivalent, the DSS, are occupied misusing the legal system and punishing a person who has the right to be assumed innocent until his guilt is proven before a competent Court of Law, rather than actively pursuing the case against Mr. Emefiele.

“These government agencies ought to abstain from all unethical actions. They can file new charges if he commits new offences rather than following him about aimlessly and trying to kidnap him from prison custody.

“This move mocks our legal system and undercuts the rule of law.

“Being in jail is not a lifelong liberation. It is a transitory one. The petition states, in part, that the actions of the state agencies are aimed at undermining the “Renewed Hope Agend’a and efforts of Mr. President, our Leader, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.”