Staff Writer
On Wednesday, the Federal High Court in Abuja threatened to issue an arrest warrant for Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s suspended governor.
His inability to show up in court to explain the circumstances surrounding the $53 million judgment obligation resulting from the Paris Club refund was the cause of the threat.
However, Justice Inyang Ekwo declared he was prepared to exhibit caution in the case so the former CBN chairman may defend himself at the subsequent postponed date.
Emefiele, whose appointment as CBN governor was stopped, had been detained, according to his attorney, Audu Anuga, SAN.
He claimed that all attempts to get in touch with him to deliver the court’s order to him failed.
He asked the judge to give his client another chance because they haven’t been able to contact him since the last order requiring him to appear in court.
On October 20, 2022, Justice Ekwo issued an order requiring the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to appear in court on January 18 in relation to his alleged unwillingness to comply with the court’s decision for the payment of a judgment debt in favor of a lawyer named Joe Agi, SAN.
Following his motion for garnishee as the case’s judgment creditor, Agi had taken Linas International Ltd, the Minister of Finance, CBN, and Emefiele to court as the first, second, third, and fourth judgment debtors, respectively.
The case was ultimately postponed until March 20 before being set for June 6 once more since, as of January 18, the proceedings could not proceed as planned.
Emefiele was ordered by the court on June 6 to show up in court on July 19.
On June 9, however, President Bola Tinubu removed him from his position as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and ordered him to hand over his duties to the deputy governor of the operations directorate.
The DSS reported his arrest and imprisonment on June 10 shortly after his suspension.
Ayodele Arotiowa, who represented Agi during the hearing, was ready to make a contribution when Justice Ekwo interrupted and inquired about Emefiele’s compliance with the order.
“We tried to find a way to get in touch with the fourth respondent, Emefiele, but the third respondent, CBN, was unable to get in touch with the fourth respondent.
In response, Anuga said, “We depend exclusively on public communication that the fourth respondent is detained and have been unable to communicate with him.
He claimed that the situation regarding Emefiele’s ability to represent the CBN had changed.
The judge did note that Emefiele was being sued on a personal level.
However, it is currently known by the general public that he has been suspended, Anuga added. He needs to be given a chance to comply.
However, Justice Ekwo questioned how long the court would hold off on Emefiele given that the lawsuit was filed in 2017.
He requested Anuga to provide a compelling argument as to why the court shouldn’t issue an arrest warrant for Emefiele.
Since his client was still being held after his suspension despite a court order requiring his release, the senior attorney declared, “My lord, we are at the mercy of the court.”
However, because we haven’t had the opportunity to visit him, there has been an intervening occurrence.
“The fourth respondent has not been informed of the last opportunity my lord gave him,” the statement reads.
He argued, “I feel that there should be an opportunity so that this may be shared.
After then, if Emefiele still refused to comply, according to Anuga, the court might then take action.
As a result, the judge postponed the case until October 31 so that the CBN and Emefiele may provide justification for not issuing an arrest warrant for the former CBN governor.
The conflict arose from an alleged $70 million verdict against Linas International Ltd for Joe Agi’s (the attorney’s) help with the Paris Club return. According to reports, Emefiele only released $17 million, leaving a $53 million deficit that needs to be paid.
