Court to rule on Emefiele’s detention July 13

Court to rule on Emefiele’s detention July 1

An Abuja High Court on Tuesday fixed July 13 to rule on a fundamental rights enforcement suit brought by the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele.

Justice Hamza Muazu on Tuesday reserved his judgement on the matter till that date.

Attorney General of the Federation, the Director General of State Security Service and the State Security Service are respondents in the suit.

The court last Friday ordered that the suspended CBN governor, who has been in custody of the Department of State Service since June 10 be granted access to his lawyers and family members.

At the resumed proceedings in the matter on Tuesday, Emefiele, through his team of lawyers led by a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr. Joseph Daudu, SAN, prayed the court to enforce his fundamentally guaranteed rights to liberty and freedom.

The senior lawyer said the continued detention of his client in custody of the security agency amounted to gross infringement of his human rights under both the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.

Daudu insisted that the court was imbued with the requisite powers to order Emefiele’s release from the custody of the DSS.

Besides, he argued that all the allegations levelled against his client were state offences that could be entertained by the FCT High Court.

He urged the court to dismiss preliminary objections and counteraffidavits filed by the respondents to oppose the fundamental right enforcement action.

But counsel to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Tijjani Ghazali, SAN, drew the attention of the court to process his client filed to challenge the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit.

While urging Justice Muazu to hands-off the case, the AGF’s lawyer argued that Emefiele’s arrest and detention by the DSS was an administrative decision of the executive arm of the government.

Ghazali, SAN, further insisted that going by the nature of the reliefs the Applicant is seeking, the FCT high court was not the appropriate court to hear the suit.

Mr I. Awo, who appeared for the DSS and its Director General, equally applied for the suit to be dismissed with substantial cost awarded against the Applicant.