Justice Olukayode Adeniyi of the Federal Capital Territory High Court has granted former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, bail.

The judge ordered that Emefiele be released immediately to his lawyers, who were charged with the responsibility of producing him in court for his arraignment next week or at any other day.

According to the judge, the ex-bank chief must also deposit his travel documents before the chief registrar of the court, pending his arraignment.

The judge also pointed out that there must be an end to detention without trial.

The court also noted that it can not overlook the fact that Emefiele has been in detention for 151 days, and the Federal Government and the Attorney General of the Federation must abide by court order.

The substantive motion on notice, as well as the preliminary objection, were adjourned to November 17, 2023, for hearing.

Emefiele’s travails started when President Bola Tinubu suspended him as the apex bank chief on June 9, 2023.

A day after, the Department of State Services (DSS) confirmed that the embattled and suspended CBN chief was in its custody.

After several legal fireworks by Emefiele’s counsel challenging his prolonged detention by the DSS, the secret police bowed to pressure on July 13, 2023 and announced that the suspended apex bank chief had been charged to court.

Emefiele was produced at a Lagos court by DSS operatives in a hilux vehicle on Tuesday, July 25, 2023.

Appearing before Justice Oweibo, Emefiele, 61, pleaded “not guilty” to the two counts of illegal possession of firearm and ammunition filed against him by the Federal Government.

Later in August, the DSS withdrew its charges against Emefiele. The secret police freed the embattled ex-bank chief on October 26 just as the anti-graft commission detained him the same day.

At the last adjourned date, Emefiele who has been in the custody of Security agencies was ordered by Justice Olukayode to be released unconditionally or be brought to hear his application for bail.

Counsel to Emefiele, Mathew Burkaa, had applied that his client be admitted to bail on liberal terms, having been in the custody of security agencies for 151 days. He made this application to Provisions of Section 35 (4a and b) of the 1999 constitution.

While objecting to the bail application, Counsel for the Attorney General of the Federation and the Federal Government, Onyi Koleosho, pointed out that Emefiele was transferred to the custody of the EFCC on October 26, and that date is not up to two months.

He stated that a hearing notice has been issued by the court to the effect that Emefiele will be arraigned on 15th November 2023, in respect of a pending charge filed by the office of the AGF.

He said the court should decline the application for Emefiele’s release in the interest of justice, and to avoid a situation where the scheduled arraignment may interfere with investigations, adding that releasing him will pose further problems and difficulties for the prosecution to get him to attend court next week, for his arraignment.

Counsel for the EFCC, Farouk Abdallah, agreed that the issue of bail is at the discretion of the court.

However, parties may bring facts before the court to enable it to make a decision that will help it meet the Justice of the case.

In a further submission, Counsel to Emefiele pointed out that his client has not been served any charge to date. He assured the court that the former CBN governor is not a flight risk and doesn’t have the capacity to stop his arraignment by the Federal Government next week.

Noting that his client has been in custody all this while, the lawyer noted that Nigeria would lose nothing by granting Emefiele bail.