Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court in Lagos, on Thursday, struck out the illegal possession of firearms charge against the embattled former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, following an application by the Federal Ministry of Justice to withdraw it.
The judge further berated the Federal Government for lack of respect for the rule of law, saying that it is unacceptable for the government to disobey its order, granting bail to Emefiele.
According to the judge, it is better to keep the integrity of the court and strike out the charge against Emefiele for lack of diligent prosecution.
Justice Oweibo also agreed with the Solicitor-General of the Federation (SGF), Mohammed Bakodo Abubakar, who moved the application to withdraw the two-count charge, citing Section 108 of Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
But the lead lawyer to Emefiele, Mr. Joseph Daodu (SAN), had argued that the prosecution could not withdraw the charge unless the government purges itself of its disobedience to the court’s order July 25, granting bail to Emefiele.
In his short short ruling in the matter, Justice Oweibo condemned the conduct of the prosecution.
He said: “The conduct of the prosecution has shown that it doesn’t respect the rule of law.
“Of what benefit will it be to keep the file in the court’s docket when the prosecution has shown disrespectful to the court?
“To stop the embarrassment of the court and to keep its integrity intact, means to strike out this charge which has simply been abandoned for a lack of diligent prosecution.”
The judge then said, “Accordingly this charge is hereby struck out for lack of diligent prosecution.”
