The Federal Capital Territory High Court has granted bail to the embattled former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, under strict conditions. Justice Yusuf Halilu, who presided over the case, ordered that Emefiele must present two sureties, each owning property valued at ₦2 billion within 72-hours deadline or be remanded in prison custody.
The bail comes following the arraignment of Emefiele by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on eight fresh charges. These include allegations of money laundering involving ₦7.7 billion and the unlawful acquisition of a 150-square-meter estate in the Lokogoma area of Abuja. However, Emefiele pleaded “NOT GUILTY” to all the fresh charges before the honourable court.
This new arraignment adds to a growing list of legal battles faced by the former apex bank Chairman since the beginning of President Tinubu’s administration. Emefiele is already standing trial in three other ongoing cases instituted by the EFCC. One of the previous matters involved procurement fraud and allegations of awarding unlawful advantages to a CBN staff member. In that case, he was granted bail in the sum of ₦50 million.
During the Monday’s proceedings dated 16th June, 2025, EFCC’s counsel Rotimi Oyedepo urged the court to grant an accelerated hearing of the case and keep Emefiele in custody to prevent interference with investigations. The former Governor’s legal team countered by drawing the court’s attention to the fact that their client is already on bail in the other three cases. They argued that it would be fair and just to extend similar bail conditions in this new case.
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Although the prosecution asked for time to respond formally to the bail application, the court went ahead to admit Emefiele to bail, while stressing that the conditions must be fulfilled within the set 72-hour window. In addition, the sureties are required to sign a legal undertaking agreeing to be remanded if Emefiele fails to appear in court or violates his bail terms.
The EFCC has accused him of controlling funds suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities between 2019 and 2022 and benefiting from questionable real estate dealings during his time in office.
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