Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has been released from the Kuje Correctional Centre after meeting the bail conditions set by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja. Emefiele had been detained to fulfill the bail conditions granted to him in November.
Emefiele, who was granted a N300 million bail on November 22, was required to produce two sureties with certificates of occupancy and titles of properties within the Maitama district of Abuja. Additionally, he had to deposit all his travel documents with the court registrar and remain within the Abuja Municipal Council.
The former CBN governor had been arraigned on six counts of procurement fraud, including allegations of approving a contract for the acquisition of 43 vehicles totaling N1.2 billion from 2018 to 2020. His arrest in June, following his suspension by President Bola Tinubu, triggered a series of investigations into alleged financial misconduct.
Recently, a Special Investigator, Jim Obazee, submitted a report accusing Emefiele and others of embezzling billions of naira and committing financial offences, including fraud in the redesign of the Nigerian currency. The report also claimed that Emefiele manipulated the Naira exchange rate and committed fraud in the CBN’s e-Naira project. The former CBN governor may face charges related to these allegations in court.