A Federal High Court in Lagos has withdrawn the charges of illegal possession of firearms filed by the Government against the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo made the order following an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Ministry of Justice, Mohammed Abubakar, to withdraw the two-count charge.
Abubakar relied on Section 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.
The defense, through its lead counsel Mr. Joseph Daodu, SAN, had argued that the prosecution could not withdraw the charges unless the government first purges itself of its disobedience to the court’s July 25 order granting Emefiele N20 million bail.
But Justice Oweibo, while condemning the government’s conduct, granted the application.
According to him, the conduct of the prosecution has shown a lack of respect for the rule of law.
“Of what benefit will it be to keep the file in the court’s docket when the prosecution has shown disrespect to the court?” he said.
“Accordingly, this charge is hereby struck out for lack of diligent prosecution,” he added.
