House of Representatives Committee on Public Petition has advised lawyers of the embattled former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele to pursue contempt proceedings against the Economy and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Department of State Services, DSS, if they have strong evidence of his alleged abduction at the Nigeria Correctional Centre, Kuje, Abuja.
The committee gave the advice yesterday after a hearing of the petition filed by the Centre for Social Justice Equity and Transparency, CESJT over a failed attempt by the anti-graft agency to abduct Emefiele from the custody of Kuje prisons , Abuja after the court had granted him bail.
When the petition was called up yesterday, representatives of the Correctional Center denied the allegation of the failed abduction.
The petitioners however, produced pictures evidence of the EFCC operatives, which laid siege at the prison.
The hearing nearly degenerated into a shouting match when the petitioners’ lawyers insisted on proving their case, but the EFCC and Prison officials’ who were present kept on denying and insisting that there was no such incident.
When asked repeatedly by the Chairman of the panel, Mike Eteba to state the truth of what transpired, the Correctional Center insisted that no such thing happened while the EFCC said they have no plan to abduct the former CBN Governor and can’t talk on the matter as the incident never happened.
Ruling on the matter, the panel advised that since EFCC and the Correctional Centers have denied the allegation of attempting to abduct Emefiele, his lawyers should proceed to the court and file contempt charges if the EFCC makes any further move or if they feel strongly that the order of the court have been violated.
The lawyer to the petitioners, while addressing the media, insisted that the alleged attempt to forcefully abduct Emefiele from lawful custody did take place, and the organisation will take out contempt proceeding against executive rascality of EFCC and DSS should there be a repeat of the illegality of November 22, 2023.
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The representative of CESJET, Mr Ahmed Tijani, slammed the EFCC and DSS over their penchant for disobedience to court order, adding that the agencies had failed to respect several orders of courts granting Emefiele bail.
He said: “We are not here to challenge the matter in court but to report the alleged attempt to forcefully remove Emefiele by EFCC from the Correctional Centre.”
