FCT, Abuja - The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has formally charged former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele with stealing and illegally acquiring an estate comprising 753 housing units in Abuja.

The fresh eight-count charge was filed on Friday at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The EFCC alleges that Mr Emefiele unlawfully obtained the estate located at Plot 109, Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, measuring 150,462.86 square metres.

The commission claims that Emefiele colluded with Eric Ocheme, currently at large, to acquire the property in August 2021.

Earlier, the EFCC secured a court order to seize the estate without disclosing its owner and handed it over to the federal government last week.

However, Mr Emefiele has approached the Court of Appeal seeking to set aside the judgement that granted full control of the estate to the government.

The commission also accuses Emefiele of unlawfully domiciling large sums of money in proxy accounts between 2019 and 2022.

According to the charges: N167 million was domiciled in a Zenith Bank account in 2019; N1.23 billion was held in Kelvito Integrated Services’ account in 2020; Nearly N3 billion was under control in 2021 in the same account; N1.98 billion in 2022 in Kelvito Integrated Services’ account; N900 million and N600 million in Ifedigo Integrated Services’ accounts.

The EFCC alleged these sums were reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully obtained.

In addition to the above, the EFCC alleges that in January 2021, Emefiele forged a document titled “Irrevocable Power of Attorney Between MG Properties Limited and H and Y Business Global Limited,” intending to mislead regarding the document’s authenticity and authority. This is said to contravene sections 319, 362, and 364 of the Penal Code.

Mr Emefiele led the CBN from 2014 until June 2023, when President Bola Tinubu forced his removal. He was arrested by the State Security Services (SSS) and resigned while in custody.

Apart from the charges in Abuja, he faces other corruption allegations in Lagos, including fraudulent foreign exchange allocation amounting to $2 billion, criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, and conferring undue advantage.

Despite the charges, Emefiele has consistently denied all wrongdoing.

The EFCC has summoned 24 witnesses to testify about their involvement in acquiring and developing the Abuja estate and to present relevant documents.

The former CBN governor also faces charges related to the controversial redesign of the naira and other alleged corrupt practices in Abuja.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the federal high court in Lagos reserved ruling on the no-case submission filed by Ayodele Fayose, a prominent former governor of Ekiti state.

The court took action in Fayose's trial over alleged money laundering and theft totalling N6.9 billion.

At the latest trial, the judge reserved his decision (on the no-case submission by Fayose) after hearing arguments from Kanu Agabi (SAN), counsel to Fayose (first defendant); Olalekan Ojo (SAN), representing the second defendant (Spotless Investment Limited) and Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), the EFCC's lawyer.

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Source: Legit.ng