The woes of the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele as Nigerian government arraigned him on a six-count charge relating to alleged procurement fraud.
Emefiele who was suspended by President Bola Tinubu was arraigned at the Abuja High Court.
Recall Emefiele was originally facing 20 counts amounting to N6.5 billion, the charges have been scaled down to N1.6 billion.
Emefiele, the sole defendant in the case, appeared in court Friday, November 17, pleading not guilty to the charges, which revolve around the illegal procurement of 43 vehicles worth N1.2 billion between 2018 and 2020.
According to the amended charge sheet, Emefiele is accused of using his position to confer corrupt advantages on Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro, a Central Bank of Nigeria staff.
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Count one reads, “That you, Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, male, adult, sometime in 2018 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did use your position as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to confer a corrupt advantage on Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro, a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria by awarding a contract for the supply of 37 Toyota Hilux Vehicles at the cost of N854,700,000 only to April1616 Investment Ltd, a company in which the said Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro is a director and thereby committed an offence.”
The charges include awarding contracts for the supply of vehicles to a company, April1616 Investment Ltd., where Yaro is a director.
The allegations range from the procurement of Toyota Hilux and Avalon vehicles to a Toyota Landcruiser V8, with the total value of the contracts amounting to N1.6 billion.
In the second count, Emefiele was accused of using his position to corruptly confer an advantage on Yaro, “a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria by awarding a contract for the supply of one Toyota Avalon at the cost of N99,900,000 only to April1616 Investment Ltd, a company in which the said Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro Director and thereby committed an offence.”
Similarly, Emefiele faces allegations of conferring corrupt advantage, as stipulated in Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000, by approving a contract for the procurement of a Toyota Landcruiser V8 for April1616 Investment Ltd. The transaction, occurring in 2019, is alleged to have cost N73 million.
In the fourth count, Emefiele is accused of illegally awarding a contract for a Toyota Landcruiser V8 valued at N73,800,000 to April 1616 Investment Ltd.
Also, the federal government argues that the former CBN governor granted another contract to Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro for the supply of two Toyota Hilux Shell Specification Vehicles in 2020, with the alleged cost of N44,200,000.
Meanwhile, Justice Hamza Muazu who presided over the case directed Emefiele to be held in Kuje prison until November 22, adding that his bail application would be addressed on the mentioned date.
