By Isaac Anyaogu
LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigeria’s former central bank governor Godwin Emefiele will appear in a Lagos court on Monday after the country’s anticorruption body on Friday filed 26 fresh charges against him alleging misuse of authority and corrupt practices.
Emefiele is already facing procurement fraud charges in another court in the capital Abuja – which he has denied – after being detained in June last year by the Department of State Services.
He was later transferred to anticorruption body the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and was granted bail in November.
The latest charges include receiving bribes, accepting gifts via intermediaries, engaging in corrupt practices, obtaining property fraudulently, and providing improper benefits to his associates, court documents showed.
A legal representative for Emefiele did not respond to a request for comment on the new charges on Saturday.
The former central bank governor was suspended by President Bola Tinubu on June 9 and arrested a day later. He resigned in August, paving the way for the appointment of new governor Olayemi Cardoso in September.
On Friday a special investigator hired by President Tinubu to probe the central bank under Emefiele said he had completed his work. The conclusions of his report have not been made public.
(Reporting by Isaac Anyaogu; Editing by Jan Harvey)
