-Holiday stalls ex-CBN governor’s bail hearing
Five firms have been linked to former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele in the latest corruption charges filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
No fewer than four of the firms have Lagos addresses, The Nation learnt yesterday.
Emefiele and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, pleaded not guilty to a 26-count charge filed at the Ikeja Special Offences Court.
Justice Rahman Oshodi, who ordered the ex-CBN governor’s remand in EFCC’s custody, was to rule on the defendant’s bail application today.
It will have to be rescheduled due to the additional public holiday to celebrate this year’s Eid-el-Fitr.
The four companies named in the charge are: NIPCO Plc, Source Computer Limited, Limelight Multidimensional Services Limited, and Comec Support Services Limited.
NIPCO Plc’s website, www.nipcoplc.com, states that the firm can be found at 1 & 15 Dockyard Road, Apapa. According to ng-check.com, Limelight’s address is Shop 33 Ikorodu Crescent, off Corporation Drive Dolphin, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The Source Computer Limited, with Registration Number 504214, was registered on February 13, 2004 at 46, Raufu Williams Street, Surulere, Lagos.
Comec Supports Services Limited Services, with number 1192257, was registered on May 22, 2014, with its office as Shop 33, Ikorodu Crescent, off Corporation Drive Dolphin, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The fifth firm is Andswin Resources and Solutions Limited.
Emefiele was accused of receiving $26,552,000 from NIPCO Plc through Donatone Limited “on account of allocation of foreign exchange in favour of NIPCO Plc” by the CBN.
The ex-CBN governor allegedly “corruptly received” $400,000 and $200,000 from The Source Computer “on account of approval of ‘contracts’ in favour of the said company” by the CBN.
EFCC said Emefiele “conferred a corrupt advantage on your associate, Limelight Multidimensional Services Limited” by approving payments of N900,216,324.21, N1.060 billion and N149 million “to the said company”.
The prosecution said he also conferred a corrupt advantage on another associate, Comec Support Services, by approving the payment of N151.2 million to it.
EFCC said Emefiele used his position as CBN governor to confer a corrupt advantage on his associate, Andswin Resources and Solutions, by approving the payment of N204,992,739.51 to the firm.
According to the charge, the ex-CBN governor, between 2022 and 2023, allocated foreign exchange in the aggregate sum of N2.1 billion “without bids, which act is prejudicial to the rights of Nigerians”.
It is the second fraud and corruption case filed against Emefiele by the EFCC since his indictment by Mr. Jim Obaze, a special investigator engaged by President Bola Tinubu to investigate the activities of the CBN under his watch.
Emefiele has a pending case at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja over his alleged corrupt activities as CBN governor, which terminated in June last year.
He also pleaded not guilty.
The fresh charges against him in Lagos include abuse of office and irregular allocation of cumulative $4.5 billion and £2.8 billion while he was in office as CBN governor.
Send Us News, Gist, more... to citypeopleng@gmail.com | Twitter: @CitypeopleMagz
