The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who is currently on suspension, filed a lawsuit seeking to protect his fundamental rights. On Tuesday, an FCT High court set a July 13 hearing date for the case.
After hearing submissions from the parties involved, Justice Hamza Muazu set the date.
In his reply, the attorney for Emefiele Joseph Daudu, SAN, claimed that despite the respondents’ initial opposition to the originating summons on notice, the court had the authority to hear the case.
He claims that the charges stated against Emefiele are state offences that the FCT High Court may decide to hear.
The first respondent is contesting the court’s jurisdiction to hear the case that the applicant has placed before it, according to Tijjani Ghazali, SAN, counsel for the Attorney-General of the Federation.
He said that the Department of State Services’ decision to arrest and detain Emefiele was made administratively by a division of the executive.
He continued by saying that the reliefs requested by an applicant determine jurisdiction.
The embattled CBN government is being imprisoned on the order of an FCT Chief Magistrate Court, he argued, thus the accusation of wrongful imprisonment is false. He therefore requested the court to deny the plea.
The attorney for the second and third respondents, I. Awo, argued for the dismissal of the application with costs since there existed an active order to detain the applicant. (NAN)