A high court in the Federal Capital Territory decided to postpone the trial of the former Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele, until June 24.
The case was adjourned at the prosecution’s request.
When the case was called for hearing, both the prosecution and defendant were not present.
Even though a representative from Emefiele’s team was there, the judge, Justice Hamza Muazu, questioned his absence.
Emefiele’s counsel, I D Ahmed, apologized for his client’s absence and explained that they were given a letter of adjournment by the prosecution.
However, the judge emphasized that the defendant should still be in court despite the prosecution's adjournment letter.
Justice Muazu then scheduled the continuation of the trial for June 24 and June 25.
Emefiele is facing 20 charges brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, including criminal breach of trust, forgery, and obtaining money by false pretense during his tenure as the head of the Central Bank.
The EFCC alleged that Emefiele forged a document and falsely claimed it originated from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The embattled ex-CBN governor was accused of falsely representing the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in a letter where he requested the CBN to provide funds in line with a former President’s directive.
Additionally, the anti-graft agency claimed that Emefiele used his position to unfairly benefit his wife and colleague through certain companies.
In an amended charge, Emefiele was accused of knowingly obtaining 6.2 million dollars by false pretense.
At a previous hearing, the prosecution’s seventh witness (PW7) Agboro, an investigator with the Independent, Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, presented documents as evidence.
