Lawyers yesterday disagreed over the charge filed against a former Governor of Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, despite two court judgements. Reacting on this, an Abuja based lawyer , Tosin Ojao- ma, said: “I think there is a serious misconceptions as regards the orders emanating from the two courts on Godwin Emefiele’s matter; a court can declare that the arrest and detention of a criminal suspect is illegal but the court didn’t say he should not be charged to court, where the suspect has been indicted.

The court may question the mode of arrest and detention but not the charges which has been levied against him that are subject to prove before the court. “What Nigerians are saying is that nobody should be kept in detention perpetually. It will amount to violation of fundamental human rights if a criminal suspect is kept in custody without any charges been levied against him. The allegation of illegal possession of firearms is pending in court.

That is just one leg of the case. There has been calls from the civil society organisations that Godwin Emefiele has more questions to answer than just illegal possession of fire arms. “There are several allega- tions of financial impropriety against him.

The NIRSAL fund disbursement is still hanging; the allegations of gifting several millions of dollars to commercial banks, the dollar /naira racketeering under his watch at the CBN, the mismanagement of public funds under the guise of COVID-19 support funds without approval of the National Assembly, the currency swap scam, which has been shielded in secrecy and so many other alleged economic crimes which the EFCC is the agency saddled with the responsibility to handle.

“The lesson that must be learnt by all public officers from the current situation of Godwin Emefiele is that power is transient. Everyone that accept to serve in public office must be ready to ac- count for his or her stewardship one day. “Now that the DSS have charged Godwin Emefiele for illegal possession of arms, if that is the only offence they are able to indict him for, then they should hand him over to the EFCC to investigate the gargantuan allegations of economic crimes against him. This matter also speaks volumes of handling of criminal suspects in Nigeria.

No decent society will allow any citizen to be arrested and incarcerated without strict compliance with the provisions of the law. “I am also using this opportunity to call on the DSS to either charge the suspended Chairman of EFCC, Bawa to court or release him on administrative bail. In all we must allow the rule of law to prevail”. Another lawyer, Biodun Olugbemide, in his reaction, said that, “despite a court’s injunction, the Department of State Services has filed a 2-count charge against the former CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, bordering on illegal possession of firearms.

“One tends to wonder if the DSS action in filing the charge is not an affront on the court. “Going back to the beginning, it should be borne in mind that when DSS first ar- rested Emefiele, nothing was filed against him. Emefiele went ahead to sue them for lack of warrant, and a violation of his fundamental rights.

“The DSS got the warrant few days after, but eventually, the court held that the arrest was illegal, and on this note, the court held that Emefiele should be in custody of the Attorney General of the Federation, or be granted an Administrative bail, while giving the DSS a 7-day ultimatum, to put their house in order, and come up with something substantial.

“I believe it was on this note that the DSS had come up with a 2-count charge against Emefiele, bordering on possession of illegal firearms, and so on. “Suffice to know that the issue of fundamental rights was held and handled by the High Court, and there has been a ruling on it, and for the High Court, it is functus officio, while the next 2-count charge is now to be handled by the Federal High Court, as provided for in Section 251 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended.

“Therefore, in my opinion, the action of the DSS in filing the charge against Emefiele is not an affront on the court. Rather, it should be seen as do- ing the needful so as to let the rule of law prevail”.