The embattled former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has fulfilled his bail conditions and was on Friday “secretly” released from Kuje Prison though the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) could re-arrest him for new charges.
The spokesperson for the Kuje Correctional Centre, FCT, Adamu Duza, confirmed the development to newsmen on Saturday.
“I can confirm to you that he (Emefiele) has met his bail conditions, hence he has no reason to remain in our facility.
“He met his bail condition and was released past 2pm yesterday (Friday),” he said.
A source in the prison however said the CBN former administrator was also secretly released from Kuje prison at 3pm after fulfilling his bail conditions.
“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is still looking for him to arrest him,” and that’s “why he was released secretly.”
The source reportedly said that everything about Emefiele’s release was done secretly in active connivance with the prison officials who perfected the plan and hid him from visitors who were visiting the facility.
Some media reports had reported that a report of the Special Investigator on management of the CBN under Emefiele revealed how he lodged £543,482,213 in fixed deposits in United Kingdom banks alone without authorisation.
The Special Investigator on the CBN and Related Entities, Jim Obazee in the report revealed that Emefiele also illegally lodged billions of naira in no fewer than 593 bank accounts in the United States, and China including the United Kingdom without the approval of the apex bank’s board of directors and the CBN Investment Committee.
President Bola Tinubu had in a letter dated July 28, 2023, named Obazee, a former Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, as the CBN special investigator.
Emefiele, who was held in Kuje Custodial Centre until the report of his release on Friday, is being prosecuted on six counts bordering on fraud.
He was not able to perfect the N300 million bail granted him by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory on November 22.
It was earlier reported that Emefiele awarded N61.5 billion for the printing of ill-fated new naira notes to a United Kingdom company, De La Rue in flagrant violation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that it should be given to a domestic firm.
