I Had No Plea Bargain With Emefiele — AGF
The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has debunked reports that he had signed a non-prosecution plea bargain with the former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
OSUN DEFENDER reports that arraignment for Emefile and his associates were slated for arraignment over N6.9bn procurement fraud at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in August has been stalled.
A recent report claimed that Emefiele and the Federal Government had signed a plea bargain.
However, in a statement on Sunday by Fagbemi’s spokesperson, Modupe Ogundoro, the AGF described the report as false.
The AGF in the statement said no such agreement exists between his office and the embattled former CBN governor.
The statement read, “The attention of the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has been drawn to reports alleging that the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, and the Federal Government of Nigeria, have agreed to a non-prosecution plea bargain arrangement.
“The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice hereby state clearly that these reports are completely false.
“It would be noted that the legal team representing Godwin Emefiele had expressed its intention in court at the last hearing to initiate a plea bargain arrangement. However, no such arrangement has been reached with Mr Godwin Emefiele or his representatives.
“We wish to advise the media and members of the public to kindly disregard the said false report. The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice will continue to take all actions in the interest of the Nigerian public.”
- Kazeem Badmus
Yusuf Oketola is a trained journalist with over five years of experience in the media industry. He has worked for both print and online medium. He is a thorough-bred professional with an eye of hindsight on issues bothering on social justice, purposeful leadership, and a society where the leaders charge and work for the prosperity of the people.
