On Monday, Justice Olukayode Adeniyi of a Federal Capital Territory High Court scheduled January 8 as the date for delivering the judgement in the enforcement of a fundamental rights suit filed by the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
After hearing arguments from the involved parties in the suit, the judge fixed the date and also reserved ruling in the preliminary objections filed by all four respondents in the suit, marked FCT/HC/CV/040/2023.
The embattled Emefiele had taken the Federal Government, the Attorney-General of the Federation, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and the commission before the court to enforce his fundamental rights to life, personal liberty, fair hearing, and freedom of movement.
Emefiele sought a declaration from the court stating that his continued detention by the agency of the first and second respondents since June 10, 2023, and subsequent transfer to the custody of the third and fourth respondents on October 26, 2023, without being arraigned in court is unlawful.
He mentioned that the respondents’ disregard of several valid court orders for his release is a severe violation of his fundamental rights to life and personal liberty as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Emefiele, therefore, sought, among other things, an injunction restraining the respondents from further arresting and/or detaining him upon his release by the court without presenting a criminal charge against him. He also sought damages in the amount of N1 billion in his favor for the violation of his fundamental rights.
