Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on Thursday adjourned till August 15 hearing in the application filed by the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, seeking to stop the Federal Government from prosecuting him for alleged illegal possession of firearms.
The judge ruled that the application would be taken alongside another motion filed by the government challenging the court’s decision to grant Emefiele bail.
Oweibo had on July 25 granted the CBN governor bail in the sum of N20 million and two sureties in like sum.
He, however, ordered that the defendant be remanded in custody pending the fulfillment of the bail conditions.
At Thursday’s proceeding, the counsel to the CBN governor, Victor Opara (SAN) had told the court that the application was “germane and superior because of the Department of State Security (DSS) disobedience of the court order on his client’s bail application.
The counsel told the judge he was served with the prosecution’s reply to the application seeking to stop Emefiele’s trial on Thursday morning.
On the her, the federal government’s counsel, K.A Fagbemi, told the court that the prosecution filed its application seeking leave to appeal Emefiele’s bail before the defence approached the court with the motion to stop the trial.
She urged the court to hear the federal government’s application and grant an adjournment for the defence application.
In his ruling, the judge said: “The business of the court today is the hearing of the motion of the prosecution. Filing is concluded and it is ripe for hearing. The court’s attention has however been drawn to the defendant’s motion.
“Considering the priority of the motion which is in a way challenging the prosecution and the jurisdiction of the court, I shall allow the defence to respond so that both applications will be taken together.”
He, thereafter, adjourned the matter to August 15 for hearing of both applications.