Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has been given till January 25 by a Federal High Court in Abuja to come in person and explain the circumstances underlying the $53 million judgment obligation resulting from the Paris Club refund.
In a brief order on Tuesday, Justice Inyang Ekwo granted Emefiele an additional chance to appear in person in court or have an arrest warrant issued for him.
The event came about as a result of Emefiele and CBN’s attorney, Audu Anuga, SAN, pleading that since his client was still in detention, all attempts to make sure he appeared in person as ordered by the court had failed.
Anuga notified the court that on October 30, an affidavit to show cause was filed, explaining why Emefiele should not have an arrest warrant issued.
Judge Ekwo then inquired as to whether the affidavit had been served to I.A. Nnana, the attorney for Mr. Joe Agi, SAN, the judgment creditor/applicant in the case.
Nnana retorted that they would like to answer after being served on Monday, nearly at the end of the workday.
The judge reminded Anuga that the case was heard on July 19 and warned him against filing paperwork after the deadline.
However, the senior attorney clarified that despite every attempt taken up until Friday, October 27, to guarantee Emefiele’s release per the court’s decision, the order was not followed, which is why the affidavit had to be filed.
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Anuga, however, informed the court that the parties should be permitted to investigate settlement options because they had already explored them and the CBN had a new governor.
Emefiele, however, was ordered by Justice Ekwo to show up on the following postponed day.
Regarding the fourth respondent (Emefiele), I have consistently stated that contempt actions are taken against an individual regardless of their continued presence.
“In this instance, despite granting this specific individual a great deal of freedom and leniency, nothing seems to be changing.
“I will postpone the subject because there hasn’t been much discussion because the other side claims they want to respond to the procedure.
“The court’s order must be followed, and even in the event that no one does so, the court still has to follow its own directive.
He promised to give you enough time.
As a result, the judge postponed the hearing until January 25 to give Emefiele an opportunity to justify his actions and avoid having an arrest warrant issued for him.
