Former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has hired a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Olalekan Ojo, to lead his defence in his on-going trial for fraud at the Lagos High Court.
The embattled apex bank chief is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion acts of fraud.
Ojo is well known for his defence of Major Hamza al-Mustapha (rtd), a former Chief Security Officer to the Late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha.
Ojo defended al-Mustapha and his alleged accomplices in the murder of Kudirat Abiola, a widow of Bashorun Moshood Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Justice Mojisola Dada, of the Lagos High Court, passed a death sentence on al-Mustapha, on January 30, 2013, but the Court of Appeal overturned the judgement months later.
When Emefiele’s case came up yesterday, Ojo argued that he had filed a preliminary objection against the suit, as he argued that the charge against his client was constitutionally and jurisdictionally defective. He asked the court to discontinue the trial.
However, the EFCC prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, (SAN), urged the court to ignore Ojo’s plea and continue trial.
Presiding judge, Justice Rahman Oshodi, held that he would take a decision after the determination of all applications. He then deferred ruling on the matter.
