The suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, faces further legal trouble as the federal government plans to file 20 new charges against him. Mohammed Abubakar, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) of the federation, revealed this to journalists at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi on Tuesday.
Earlier, the federal government had orally applied to withdraw the charge of "illegal possession of firearms" against Emefiele. The presiding judge, Nicholas Oweibo, ruled that the application would be heard on August 17.
Abubakar clarified that the withdrawal was due to "emerging facts that require further investigation." He stated, "We are withdrawing the charge because of emerging facts that require further investigation. At the end, we will probably come back with more charges."
Responding to questions about the Department of State Services (DSS) not adhering to the court order granting Emefiele bail, the DPP explained that pending charges against the suspended CBN governor at the Abuja High Court had "slowed down" the compliance process.
Abubakar denied allegations that the DSS was restricting Emefiele's access to family and friends. He refrained from disclosing the nature of the upcoming charges against the suspended CBN governor but confirmed that the federal government planned to file twenty charges.