FG to file 20 additional charges against Emefiele, says DPP

The federal government says it will file 20 fresh charges against Godwin Emefiele, suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Mohammed Abubakar, the director of public prosecution (DPP) of the federation, spoke to journalists at the federal high court in Ikoyi, on Tuesday.

Earlier, the federal government made an oral application to withdraw the charge of “illegal possession of firearms” against Emefiele.

Nicholas Oweibo, the presiding judge, ruled that the application will be heard on August 17.

Speaking with journalists at the end of the court session, Abubakar said the application for withdrawal was made due to “emerging facts that require further investigation”.

“We are withdrawing the charge because of emerging facts that require further investigation,” he said.

“At the end, we will probably come back with more charges.”

Asked why the Department of State Services (DSS) failed to obey the court order granting Emefiele bail, the DPP said pending charges against the suspended CBN governor at the Abuja high court “slowed down” the process of complying with the court order.

He also denied claims that the DSS is not granting Emefiele access to family members and friends.

The DPP refused to mention the nature of the additional charges that would be filed against the suspended CBN governor.

Asked how many charges the federal government is planning to file, he said “twenty”.