Former CBN Gov, Emefiele, regains freedom two days to Christmas

Embattled former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has reportedly been released from the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja after meeting his bail conditions.

Reports attributed to spokesman of the Centre, Adamu Duza said he confirmed the release of Emefiele on Friday after he met his bail conditions.

This is coming a month after Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court granted Emefiele a N300 million bail on November 22, along with other conditions which included that his sureties must have landed properties in the Maitama District of Abuja.

The Nigerian government has been prosecuting Emefiele for alleged procurement fraud and on his last appearance in court, the 20-count criminal charge preferred against him were reduced to one.

Emefiele who was charged alongside Sa’adatu Yaro, a female employee of CBN, and her company, April 1616 Investment, was accused of using his position to confer a corrupt advantage on Yaro by awarding a contract for the procurement of 43 vehicles worth N1.2 billion between 2018 and 2020.

READ ALSO:CBN investigators say Emefiele lodged £543m in UK banks alone, reveals other monumental fraud

The items include 37 Toyota Hilux vehicles at the cost of N854.7 million, one Toyota Avalon at the cost of N99.9 million, one Toyota Landcruiser V8 at the cost of N73.8 million, two Toyota Hilux Shell Specification vehicles at the cost of N44,200,000.

He was also alleged to have awarded Yaro a contract for the procurement of two Toyota Landcruiser VXR V8 worth N138 million.

When he was arraigned, Emefiele had pleaded “not guilty” to the amended charge and was thereafter remanded at the Kuje Prison pending when he would meet his bail conditions.

Emefiele was first arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) in June after being handed a suspension by President Bola Tinubu and charged at a Federal High Court in Lagos on July 25 on an initial two-count charge of illegal possession of firearms at a federal high court in Ikoyi and was granted bail in the sum of N20 million.

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