UPDATE: EMEFIELE CHALLENGES JURISDICTION OF LAGOS COURT FOR TRIAL
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The ruling on the application filed by Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), challenging the court’s jurisdiction to try him on the charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has been postponed until the conclusion of the trial by the Lagos High Court located in Ikeja.
Emefiele argued through his attorney, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Olalekan Ojo, that he cannot be tried for suspected acts of abuse of office in any state’s high court in Nigeria because this raises questions about legality and constitutionality.
The former CBN governor also noted that counts 1-4 of the 26 counts charge filed by the EFCC against him are unconstitutional as they are not contained in any law in Nigeria.
His counsel asked the court to make an order striking out counts one to four of the charge on the grounds that:
i. the Honourable Court has no jurisdiction to try the offence of abuse of office in relation to the office of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria which the 1st Defendant occupied at all times material to the commission of the offences and
ii. the 1st Defendant’s/Applicant’s acts said to constitute arbitrary acts resulting in abuse of office are not offences known to law as mandatorily required by section 36(12) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.
However, the EFCC refuted these claims through its attorney, Rotimi Oyedepo, Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
He asked Justice Rahman Oshodi, the trial judge, not to postpone or stop the case’s trial due to objections contesting the specifics of the information’s counts, citing decisions decided by the Supreme Court as support.
“That approach is intended to take us back to where we are coming from as this were the basis for Section 1 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA and the purpose for which Administration of Criminal Justice Law, ACJL was intended. The intention of our collective resolution as a nation was to to prevent undue delay in our criminal cases.
“I urge my lord to refuse this invitation, trial has commenced, this application to prevent the trial today is unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional and I urge the court not to depart from the decision of the apex court as to do so would amount to judicial rascality,” Oyedepo stated.
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