Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has been released from the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja after fulfilling the conditions for his bail.
Adamu Duza, the facility’s spokesperson, confirmed this release on Saturday, stating that Emefiele regained his freedom on Friday, December 22.
Emefiele, along with Sa’adatu Yaro, a CBN employee, and her company, April 1616 Investment, faced accusations of procurement fraud.
The charges initially amounted to 20, but were later reduced to one by the federal government in November.
The allegations against Emefiele centered on favouring Yaro by awarding contracts for the purchase of 43 vehicles totaling N1.2 billion between 2018 and 2020.
These included various Toyota models and were purportedly obtained at inflated prices.
Upon his arraignment, Emefiele pleaded not guilty to the revised charges.
He had been in detention at the Kuje facility awaiting the court’s ruling on his bail application, which was granted on November 22 by a Federal Capital Territory High Court, setting bail at N300 million.
The conditions required two sureties with properties in the Maitama district in Abuja.
Emefiele’s legal issues began in June when the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested him following a suspension by President Bola Tinubu.
Subsequently, in July, he faced charges related to “illegal possession” of firearms at a federal high court in Ikoyi and was granted bail at N20 million.
This week, a federal government probe panel raised further allegations against Emefiele, accusing him of maintaining multiple foreign bank accounts and engaging in other financial misconduct during his tenure as CBN governor.
