Sacked Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, has pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge brought against him by the Department of State Services, DSS, at the Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos.
Emefiele was charged to Court for being in possession of a single barrel pistol and one hundred and twenty-three rounds of live ammunition without license.
Following his not guilty plea, his lawyer, Joseph Dawodu, SAN, told the Court that Emefiele has been in incarceration for over four weeks, and also urged the Court to grant him bail.
Reacting, Deputy Director Prosecutions, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, N.B. Jones, says they are yet to be served with the bail application and that they seek to give a formal response to the bail request.
He noted that it is the Solicitor General that is standing for the AGF, while urging the Court to allow the prosecutor to respond from the point of law.
The Federal Government, which is prosecuting the former Governor of CBN, maintained the offence was contrary to Section 4 of the Firearms Act, 2004, and punishable under Section 27 (1b) of the same Act.
The sacked Governor of CBN in the second count was accused of possessing 123 rounds of live ammunition (Cartridges) without a license, which was contrary to Section 8 of the Firearms Act 2004 and punishable under Section 27 (1)(b)(il) of the same Act.