Arrest warrant: Court gives Emefiele January 25 to appear over $53m debt

A Federal High Court in Abuja has granted Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), until January 25 to come before the court and provide an explanation of the facts underlying the $53 million judgment obligation that resulted from the Paris Club refund.

Tuesday’s brief order by Justice Inyang Ekwo offered Emefiele another chance to appear in person in court or face the possibility of having an arrest warrant issued for him.

This came about in response to a request made by Audu Anuga, SAN, the attorney representing Emefiele and CBN, stating that since his client was still in detention, all attempts to make sure he appeared in person as per the court’s order had failed.

On October 30, Anuga notified the court that an affidavit to show cause was filed, explaining why Emefiele should not have an arrest warrant issued.

Then, Justice Ekwo questioned I.A. Nnana, the attorney for Mr. Joe Agi, SAN, the judgment creditor/applicant in the case, on whether or not he had received the affidavit.

In response, Nnana said that they were served on Monday, almost right before work ended, and they wanted to answer.

The matter was brought up on July 19, the judge reminded Anuga, and warned him against filing processes after the deadline.

On Friday, October 27, the senior attorney clarified that although every attempt was made until then to guarantee Emefiele’s release per the court’s decision, the order was not followed, which is why the affidavit had to be filed.

On the other hand, Anuga informed the court that the parties need to be permitted to investigate the possibility of settlement because they had previously explored it and the CBN had yet another governor.

However, Emefiele was ordered to show up on the following postponed day by Justice Ekwo.

Regarding the fourth respondent, Emefiele, I have consistently stated that contempt actions are taken against anyone, whether they are currently present or not.

“I have granted this individual a great deal of leeway and leniency in this matter, but nothing seems to be changing.

The other party claims they want to respond to the procedure, therefore there won’t be much discussion, so I will adjourn the case.

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Even in the event that no one complies with the court’s ruling, the court is still required to follow its own directive.

“I’ll ensure you have enough time,” he declared.

In order to provide Emefiele an opportunity to explain why an arrest warrant should not be issued for him, the judge decided to postpone the case until January 25.