Mohammed Abubakar, Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federal Ministry of Justice has revealed why Godwin Emefiele, the controversially suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and his co-defendant were not in court on Wednesday.
According to Gistlover the federal government charged the suspects with 20 counts totaling N6.9 billion for allegedly breaking procurement laws and contract inflation.
However, the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory’s Wednesday arraignment date was not listed on the cause list for the court.
Likewise, neither Emefiele nor his co-defendant Saadat Yaro were present in court, and there was no unusual security presence seen in the area of the courthouse.
Additionally absent from court proceedings were the attorneys for the parties involved.
The scheduled arraignment for Emefiele and Ramallan-Yaro was postponed twice previously.
According to reports, Emefiele chose to cooperate with the federal government in exchange for a dismissal of the charges leveled against him.
According to sources aware of the development, Saadat Yaro and Emefiele have decided to settle with the government through a plea agreement.
The DPP, however, explained to Premium Times on Thursday in Abuja that Emefiele was not arraigned on Wednesday due to security issues near the court.
Abubakar said: “You remember at the last sitting, some angry persons mobilized to the court threatening to lynch him (Mr Emefiele).
“We were ready to bring the defendants to court for arraignment on Wednesday, but we received an intelligence report that some people were out to foment trouble. So, we had to shelve the arraignment.”
While insisting that a plea bargain deal has come up in the case, Abubakar said neither Emefiele, his co-defendant, nor the prosecution had suggested a plea agreement.
“As far as we are concerned, there is no such application for plea bargain before the Ministry of Justice,” he said.
He, however, added that the law provides for a plea bargain, and if “there is any such request, it would be considered.”
Gistlover reports that a plea bargain is a legal process that allows a defendant charged with an offense in court, usually before a trial begins or gets to an advanced stage, to plead guilty to a lesser crime to get a softer sentence.
