Folarin Kehinde

A High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos State, has granted bail to Godwin Emefiele, the embattled former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in the sum of N50 million.

Ruling on the bail application on Friday, the presiding judge, Rahmon Oshodi, admitted Emefiele on bail with two sureties in like sum.

The former CBN governor is facing trial in Lagos on a 26-count charge bordering on abuse of office.

Recall that Justice Oshodi had ordered the remand of the former Central Bank Bank (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The judge gave the remand order over alleged abuse of office and and $5.5 billion and N2.8 billion fraud.

The judge ordered that Emefiele’s co-defendant, Henry Isioma-Omoile, should be detained at Ikoyi Custodial Centre.

The defendants counsel, Mr A. Labi-Lawal, had in his two bail application urged the court to grant the defendants bail on self recognition and on liberal terms pending the determination on the case.

Labi-Lawal, in his 31 affidavits, said the first defendant (Emefiele) had complied with the bail application which was given to him by Justice Muazu in his alleged fraud trial case going on in Abuja.

He said the charges were bailable offences and not a capital offence.

“Though the first defendant was granted administrative bail by the prosecuting authority. He is seeking for bail based on self recognition and he is ready to attend the court.

“The court should also take into consideration, the status of the first defendant as he was the former CBN governor of the country,” he said.

The defence counsel said his client had religiously presented himself before Justice Muazu in Abuja to answer the allegations before him.

According to him, the first defendant was not at flight risk, as he was the first person to arrive in court.

He also prayed the court to release Emefiele to lawyer, pending the determination of the bail.

Emefiele and his co-defendant pleaded not guilty to the 26-count charge bordering on abuse of office, accepting gratification, accepting gifts through agents, corruption, and fraudulent property receipt.

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty, following their arraignment.

The EFCC counsel, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), did not oppose the bail application moved by the defence counsel.

Oyedepo, however, urged the court to exercise its discretion judiciously in granting bail to the defendants.

A total of 50 staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) were sacked on Monday, April 8 by the current management of the apex bank.

This brings to 117 the total number of disengagements since CBN governor Olayemi Cardoso’s appointment.

The termination of appointments affects directors, deputy directors, assistant directors, principal managers, senior managers and lower ranking staff.

The dispatch of the disengagement letters, which started on March 15, has continued every other week with palpable apprehension amongst staff of every cadre as the management has not specified any standard criteria for the decisions, insiders told our correspondent.

Since the commencement of the sacking, officials of the apex bank have refused to comment on the matter.

Attempts to get the reaction of the acting Director of Corporate Communication, Hakama Sidi Ali, was not successful as she did not pick her call or return the text messages to her line.

A senior management source, who does not have the permission to speak on the matter, told our reporter that the sacking spree will continue till the end of April.

Staff affected by the latest development said the lack of clarity or justification for the sack has made them conclude that they are victims of personal vendetta by Cardoso and the deputy governors.

The central grouse of most of the affected staff, especially those who spoke with our correspondent, is the alleged “Indiscriminate application of the manual by the current management.”

The termination letters sent to the directors and some of the affected staff, as seen by our reporter, cited “Reorganisational and human capital restructuring” as the reason for their dismissal, in line with the bank’s new strategic direction.

It was gathered that five directors have indicated their readiness to contest their termination, as according to them, no wrongdoing had been attributed to them, and they have not been implicated in any misconduct.

One of the staff said: “We have seen indiscriminate sacking in procurement, development finance and the medical services department. What it means is that other departments will follow soon.

“I am worried that they will come for all those that worked closely with the sacked directors. The apprehension is not good for productivity and it is also bad for the system,” he said.

Another senior staff member said: “A lot of people who received their sack letter just kept quiet and left their various offices. They feel helpless by the way the system is structured.”