The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to bring former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to trial at the Ikeja State High Court in Lagos on Monday, April 8, 2024. Emefiele, along with his co-defendant Henry Isioma Omole, faces a 26-count charge before Justice Rahman Oshodi, alleging abuse of office in the allocation of billions of United States dollars.
The EFCC asserts that Emefiele abused his authority between 2022 and 2023 by arbitrarily allocating foreign exchange totaling $2,136,391,737.33 without following proper bidding procedures, to the detriment of Nigerian citizens’ rights. Additionally, between 2020 and 2021, Emefiele allegedly allocated $291,945,785.59 in foreign exchange without proper bidding processes, further prejudicing Nigerian rights. Furthermore, in 2021, Emefiele purportedly granted special allocations of foreign exchange amounting to $1,769,254,793.16, and in another instance, $370,872,893.01, all without due process and to the detriment of Nigerian interests.
Emefiele’s co-defendant, Omole, is accused of accepting $110,000 from Raja Punjab on November 17, 2020, as a reward for Emefiele’s alleged favoritism in allocating foreign exchange to Raja Punjab’s employer.
The charges brought against Emefiele and Omole are said to contravene Section 73 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
