Nigerian Central Bank head appears in court one month after arrest

By Olanrewaju Kola

ABUJA, Nigeria (AA) - The Nigerian Central Bank governor appeared in court on Tuesday, a month after the country’s secret police arrested and suspended him.

He was charged with two counts of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, reported Channel TV, a Lagos-based broadcast station.

Godwin Emefiele was arraigned before a Federal High Court in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub, by the Department of State Service.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The presiding judge, Nicholas Oweibo, granted Emefiele bail and surety, each of N20 million naira (over $25.000).

A few days after President Bola Tinubu suspended him, he was arrested for alleged abuse of office and financing terrorism.

Emefiele has remained in custody despite the court ordering for his release twice.

As governor of the bank, he introduced currency redesign and cash swapping, which caused scarcity of naira notes and protests in parts of the country.

Then-presidential candidate Tinubu insisted during his campaigning in a southwest city that Emefiele’s policy was targeted to jeopardize his chance of winning the country’s Feb. 25 presidential poll.