An application filed by a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, challenging the jurisdiction of a Lagos State Special Court to try him was deferred Monday to the end of the trial by Justice Rahman Oshodi.
Citing Section 1 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), Justice Oshodi held that the issue of the preliminary objection will be determined at the final judgment stage.
The court also dismissed an application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), seeking a closed session for some prosecution witnesses to protect them from being attacked because of their testimonies.
The judge dismissed the application after the counsel to the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), withdrew it.
The former CBN boss was arraigned before the court alongside one Herry Omoile on allegations of accepting gratification, gifts through agents, corruption and fraudulent property receipts.
The agency also accused Emefiele of conferring corrupt advantage on his associates contrary to the Corrupt Practices Act 2000.
Earlier, Emefiele’s lawyer, Olalekan Ojo (SAN, submitted that his client could not be tried in the high court of any state in Nigeria for alleged acts of abuse of his office as this raises issues of constitutionality and legality.
Ojo also argued that counts one to four of the 26-count charges filed by the EFCC against Emefiele were unconstitutional as they are not contained in any law in Nigeria.
But the prosecutor urged the court to ignore the defence arguments, citing decided cases of the Supreme Court.
Oyedepo said, “That approach is intended to take us back to where we are coming from as this was the basis for Section 1 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) and the purpose for which Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) was intended. The intention of our collective resolution as a nation was to prevent undue delay in our criminal cases.
Also, during yesterday’s proceedings, a prosecution witness, John Ayoh, told Justice Oshodi that he collected a $600,000 bribe on behalf of the embattled former CBN governor.
Ayoh also told the court that during Emefiele’s tenure, he acted under tremendous pressure to bend the rules.
The witness further claimed that the money was brought to him in an envelope when he was in the accounting department in Adetola, adding that it was the second time he was in the CBN office in Tinubu, Lagos. The name of the person who gave him the envelope was Victor.
The judge has adjourned the matter till May 3 to continue the hearing.
