Posted by The Federal Capital Territory High Court’s Justice Olukayode Adeniyi set January 8 for his ruling in the enforcement of a fundamental rights complaint brought by Godwin Emefiele, the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
After hearing the parties’ arguments in the lawsuit, the judge set the date.
He also deferred making a decision regarding the preliminary objections that the four respondents to the lawsuit, designated FCT/HC/CV/040/2023, had made.
In order to defend his fundamental rights to life, personal liberty, a fair trial, and freedom of movement, the beleaguered Emefiele had hauled the Federal Government, the Attorney-General of the Federation, or AGF, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, and the commission before the court.
Emefiele requested a declaration from the court stating that it is illegal for him to have been detained by the first and second respondents’ agency since June 10, 2023, and to have been transferred to the third and fourth respondents’ custody on October 26, 2023, without first being charged.
According to him, the respondents’ repeated defiance of legal court orders to be released amounts to a serious infringement of his fundamental rights to life and personal liberty, which are protected by both the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended).
Emefiele, among other things, consequently requested an order prohibiting the respondents from arresting and/or detaining him in the future once the court releases him without filing a criminal complaint against him.
In addition, he demanded N1 billion in damages for the infringement of his fundamental rights.