The federal government on Tuesday announced the filing of 20 new charges against Godwin Emefiele. 

The government also said it was withdrawing its previous case that alleged illegal gun possession by the former central bank chief, according to an oral application submitted by the federal director of prosecutions Mohammed Abubakar Etsu.

But Mr Emefiele’s lawyer, Joseph Daudu, fiercely opposed the motion, stating his client must first be released on bail as the court had previously ruled before fresh charges can be filed.

Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court asked that both parties reconvene on Thursday, August 17, to give a ruling on the matter.

The government’s move appeared calculated at not complying with a valid court order that already released Mr Emefiele from custody based on the gun allegations. The order had yet to be vacated, but withdrawing the gun case and summarily filing a new case would give the government an excuse to continue keeping Mr Emefiele in custody over the new charges, a strategy federal authorities started using frequently since 2015 when former President Mohammadu Buhari was going after members of the previous administration of Goodluck Jonathan. 

President Bola Tinubu fired Mr Emefiele, first appointed in June 2014, from office in June 2023 on allegations that he mismanaged the CBN. Mr Emefiele has been kept in custody ever since, despite two different federal judges ordering his release because no serious charges were filed against him that could warrant his extended detention under the Nigerian Constitution.