Fagbemi distances FG from Emefiele’s N50bn plea bargain

JUSTICE Minister,  Lateef Fagbemi has distanced the Federal Government from the N50 billion planned non prosecution plea bargain with the embattled former Central Bank of Nigeria governor Godwin Emefiele.

This is contained  in a statement signed by the Director of Information in the Federal Ministry of Justice Mrs Modupe Ogundoro on Sunday in Abuja.

Emefiele was reported to have entered a plea bargain with government on condition of surrendering N50 billion to facilitate his early release from the custody of the Department of the State Service (DSS).

The plea bargain was also said to be aimed at cancelling the trial of the former CBN Chief on series of charges comprising money laundering, breach of Public Procurement Act and abuse of office.

Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN said that neither his office or the Presidency have had anything of such nature with Emefiele.

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“The attention of the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has been drawn to a report by Sahara Reporters alleging that the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele and the Federal Government of Nigeria, have agreed to a non-prosecution plea bargain arrangement.

“The report further alleges that Emefiele and the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, have signed a non-prosecution plea bargain agreement and that the agreement is awaiting the signature of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,

“The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice hereby states clearly that these reports are completely false.

“It would be noted that the legal team representing Mr. Godwin Emefiele had expressed their intention in court at the last hearing to initiate a plea bargain arrangement.

“However, no such arrangement has been reached with Emefiele or his representatives.

“We wish to advise the media and members of the public to kindly disregard the said false report.

“The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice will continue to take all actions in the interest of the Nigerian public”, the statement said.

Fagbemi distances FG from Emefiele’s N50bn plea bargain

(NAN)

SERAP sues 36 Governors over failure to account for N72bn subsidy palliative

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the 36 state governors in the country over their failure to account for the spending of the N72 billion palliative collected from the Federal Government, including details of the beneficiaries and the reliefs provided with the money.

To ameliorate the impact of the removal of petrol subsidy, the Federal Government recently disbursed N2 billion out of the N5 billion palliative package to each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

President Bola Tinubu had during his inaugural speech in May, announced the removal of petrol subsidy, which has led to hike in pump price as well as food prices and transportation fares in the country.

In the suit number FHC/L/CS/1943/2023 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Lagos, SERAP is seeking an order of mandamus to direct and compel each of the governors to account for the spending of the N2 billion palliative collected by them from the Federal Government.

SERAP is also seeking an order of mandamus to direct and compel each of the governors to disclose details of the beneficiaries and the reliefs provided to the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians with the money.

SERAP is further seeking an order of mandamus to direct and compel each of the governors to instruct the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to monitor the spending of petrol subsidy palliative collected by them.

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In the suit, SERAP is arguing that secrecy in the spending of the N72 billion collected by the governors would create distrust or suspicion of the government, adding that the failure by the governors to account for the public funds is both legally and morally wrong.

The organisation is also arguing that the governors are constitutionally required to act in the public interest, stressing that government secrecy promotes arbitrariness and covers illegal acts.

According to SERAP, the right of access to official information such as the spending of the N72 billion by the governors exists to facilitate the exercise of free expression right, discover the truth, and encourage citizens’ participation in a democracy.

The organisation is also arguing that the right to access information held by public officials and bodies is also essential for collective decision-making in a democratic society.

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Blessing Ogwuche, read in part: “It is in the public interest to direct and compel the 36 state governors to account for the spending of the N72 billion palliative and any subsequent disbursement of public funds to the states.”

“There is no democratic freedom without accountability and the basic postulate of accountability is that the people should have information about the functioning of the government.”