The indications showed yesterday that the suspended governor of the Central bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, may be exploring a plea bargain deal with the Federal Government.
This is so as a fresh schedule was arraigned yesterday before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting at Maitama.
Reports have it that neither Emefiele nor his co-defendant in the 20-count corruption charge showed up at the court proceedings.
Justice Hamza Muazu, the vacation judge who was on seat however did not mention Emefiele’s case as his case was not listed on the court’s cause-list.
A court official who demanded that his identity should not be revealed said that the case could not proceed as intended due to fresh development in the matter.
He said “Because of the developments, my lord had to suspend the arraignment. A new return date will be communicated to all the parties,”
Meanwhile, one of the defence lawyers in the matter, who dropped info of the plea bargain to newsmen, said the move to settle the case out-of-court was at the instance of the erstwhile CBN boss.
He said “The parties are in talks and hopefully the matter will not proceed to trial. We are exploring a plea bargain arrangement. We have asked the court to give us at least two weeks,” the lawyer added.
Whereas Emefiele’s lawyer, Mr. Kehinde Akinlolu, SAN, was silent on the bargain issue.
He said the new trial date may likely be issued by the Chief Judge of the high court, Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf.
A plea bargain is a negotiable term of criminal settlement in trials that allows a defendant to plead guilty to a lesser offence or reduced charge, in exchange for a reduction in sentence or dismissal of the charges.
The terms of agreement between the prosecution and the defendant are, however, accepted by the trial court which adopts the same as its judgement in the matter.
Such arrangement is allowed under section 270(1) & (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015.
