By Ebuka Onwudinjo
LAST WEEK when he appeared before Justice Hamza Muazu, of High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, sitting at Maitama district, Abuja, the countenance of Godwin Emefiele, immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, was pitiable. It was such that could reduce to tears from even the most hardened soldier. Hemmed in by security operatives, Emefiele was almost unrecognisable. He looked crestfallen, weary, gaunt, traumatised, hopeless and helpless. He needed support to get into the vehicle that took him to Kuje Correctional facility from where he has been remanded until he perfects the N300 million bail conditions and two sureties in like sum granted him by the Judge. The strict condition of his bail also demands that each surety must possess landed property within the jurisdiction of the court with a title document. In addition, he was ordered to deposit all his travel documents with the court.
What a travail, a humiliation of some sort for a man who for nine years occupied the highest position in the nation’s banking industry. And, before then, Emefiele was the MD/CEO of Zenith, Nigeria’s largest commercial bank. In these two positions, he was, by every measure, an influential voice, whose monetary policy pronouncements as CBN Governor, could have breathtaking implications for the economy. For all these years that he was at the commanding heights in the banking sector, words from Emefiele were the manual compass that determined the direction which investors and business operators must follow.
His presence at the annual dinner of the Bankers’ Committee, which he once chaired, was often greeted with standing ovation. But not anymore. That’s part of the uncertainty of life and a lesson in public office at the topmost level. The message: Observe your enemies, for they are the first to find out your faults. It’s a lesson Emefiele is learning the hard way. In the last six months, he has seen it all, the storms of life. He has been from one security detention to another. Even when granted bail, he was immediately re-arrested and thrown back to detention, contrary to court orders.
The question: Who wants this man silenced? Or is it a case of political witch-hunt, or better still, a tyranny foretold? Every layer of his present predicament you scrap off, leads to yet more befuddling scenarios that tend to foretell that his accusers are bent on seeing him languish in jail, if convicted. It may look somehow of a relief now, that at last, he may have started to have his day in court, to defend himself and prove his innocence of the six-count charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission( EFCC). The fresh charges against him marked CR/577/2023, came about after the prosecution found no concrete evidence to nail him with the earlier two-count charge of terrorism financing and possession of firearms.
But there’s a new twist to the new, six-count charge. Top of this is illegal procurement of award of contracts worth N1.2billion for the purchase of 43 luxury vehicles between 2008 and 2020. The contracts were alleged to have been awarded to the company belonging to an employee of the CBN, one Ms. Ramallah Sa’adatu Yaro , April 1616. According to the prosecution, this is in violation of Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Act 2020. Here’s a twist in the tail to the prosecution of Emefiele: Initially listed as co-accused in the suit against Emefiele, Ms Sa’adatu’s name has been dropped in the new charge sheet. She’s now listed as a Prosecution Witness(PW).
You may ask, what does that entail? It means she most likely has agreed to squeal, to provide the prosecution with all “relevant”, sensitive information against Emefiele’s alleged involvement in the N1.2bn contracts. In law, when a co-accused suddenly becomes a PW, it’s for a return for favour(s), and a desperate tactic, a potential hammer to nail the defendant. Better watch out as this trial unfolds. The end of the story could land Emefiele in jail for 10 years without option of fine. In practical terms, it appears, his accusers are leaving no stone unturned to secure conviction against the former CBN Governor. Could the prosecution be working from the answer? Time will tell. Recall that President Tinubu had in an interactive session with Nigerians in Diaspora during his visit to Paris, France on June 23, stated that, “Nigeria’s financial system was rotten in the hands of Emefiele”. The President further said, “few people made bags of our money. The man(Emefiele) is in the hands of the authorities. Something is being done about that. They will sort themselves out”.
Also, recall that Emefiele was suspended as CBN Governor on June 14, and a probe was instituted days later, headed by Mr. Obazee Osayande. From that time, Emefiele spent months in the custody of the Department of State Services(DSS). Just last Friday, at the 58th Annual Dinner of the Bankers’ Committee, the current CBN Governor, Dr Olayemi Cardoso, took a dig at Emefiele. He said that Emefiele as CBN Governor pumped N10trn into the economy through “quasi-fiscal intervention programmes”, in sectors ranging from agriculture, aviation, power and many other activities that were outside the core functions of the CBN. It seems like a well orchestrated plot that when it looks like Emefiele is getting out of one hole dug for him, a new one emerges, all for the same purpose – his ultimate conviction.
Truth simply spoken, as CBN Governor, Emefiele did some wonderful things. He may have also done some ‘terrible things’. All from the same place. But he could not have done all the perceived terrible, ‘rotten’ things for which he is currently facing trial without the approval of the former President Muhammadu Buhari, who publicly admitted that the Naira Redesign by the CBN under the supervision of Emefiele, had his( Buhari’s presidential nod). These questions remain unanswered: Could Emefiele have done all that he is accused of doing all alone? Was he that so powerful that he ran the CBN as a ‘one- man show’? Where were the four Deputy Governors who worked with him? Were they as clean as whistle, without reproach that none of them was given even a slap on the wrist?
Let’s be plain: One is not against any public official, including Emefiele, from facing prosecution, for any real or imagined breach or abuse of office. But such should be devoid of perceived political victimisation or witch-hunt. That is why, following a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed through his lawyers, led by Matthew Burkaa(SAN), Justice Olukayode Adeniyi, of the Federal High Court, on Nov 8, ordered the release of Emefiele from detention after he had spent 151 days in the custody of the secret police. That’s also why African Centre for Justice and Human Rights, a Civil Society Organisation, said the other day that the fresh charges against Emefiele, especially the alleged breach of the Procurement Act, was a smokescreen to silence him.
It’s important that as his trial gets underway, it should not be seen to be targeted to convict him at all costs. The reputation of our judiciary is at all-time low at the moment. It should not get worse than it’s already. The dirty fight between the officials of the Correctional Centre and DSS operatives at the premises of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi Lagos on July 25 should not be allowed to repeat itself in the trial of Emefiele. That day, Justice Nicholas Oweibo had granted bail to Emefiele, but the security officials would not
allow the prison officials to take him back to their custody. The tussle that ensued was a national disgrace. Before the fracas, exactly July 13, an FCT High Court had ordered the DSS to charge Emefiele to court if they have a foolproof case against him.
Many lawyers perceive Emefiele as victim of executive lawlessness. That’s not good for the image of the present administration. Recently, two prominent lawyers, Olisa Agbakoba, and Mike Ozekhome, all Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, have spoken up what this portends for the country. “Nobody, Agbakoba told Business Day newspaper, “will invest in a disorderly, volatile environment, not even local investors because risk is the most important thing in an investment decision”. The risk , he argues, is extremely high, and Nigeria is currently rated as a “country in low-grade civil war”. Ozekhome was even more forceful in condemning the manner in which Emefiele is being handled by the agents of the federal government. In his recent column in Daily Sun, he said that even in silence, the judiciary remains the shield of all, including the Executive and the Legislature, and as such, the continued detention of Emefiele, and the orders of competent courts to release him on bail, will make him, and ex-EFCC Abdulrasheed Bawa, as “victims of executive lawlessness”.
According to Ozekhome, mutual respect within the arms of government, should be sacrosanct, and no arm of government should be allowed to “suppress, diminish, intimidate or make nonsense of the other in all ramifications”. This is a sound argument for respect for the rule of law in a democracy. A lot of lawyers have described the fresh charges against Emefiele as “forum shopping, politically motivated, a vendetta”. This is how deep, how complicated the Emefiele case may have become. It’s not unkind to say that so much vindictiveness has been exhibited publicly by the agents of the federal government against Emefiele since his suspension and ouster as CBN Governor. On countless occasions, whatever glimmer of hope that his family had for his release based on court orders have evaporated. The world is watching. Potential investors who President tried to woo in his recent foreign trips to come invest in Nigeria’s economy, are also keenly following developments in the country. No one needs reminding that foreign investors put premium on rule of law in countries they want to put their money. Emefiele’s case may be a test case for investors planning to invest in Nigeria’s economy.
• Onwudinjo writes from Asaba