The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has struck out the illegal possession of firearms charge filed by the Federal Government against the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo issued the order following an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Ministry of Justice, Mohammed Abubakar, to withdraw the two-count charge.
Mr Abubakar relied on Section 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.
The defence, through its lead counsel, Joseph Daodu (SAN), had argued that the prosecution could not withdraw the charge unless the government first purged itself of its disobedience to the court’s July 25 order granting Mr Emefiele N20million bail.
But Justice Oweibo, despite condemning the government’s conduct, granted its application.
He said: “The conduct of the prosecution has shown that it doesn’t respect the rule of law.
“Of what benefit will it be to keep the file in the court’s docket when the prosecution has shown disrespect to the court?
“Accordingly this charge is hereby struck out for lack of diligent prosecution.”
Reporting by Wahab Akinlade; Editing by Daniel Adejo and Tony Okerafor