Ooni Visits Ex-CBN Governor, Emefiele In Prison

The Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has gone to the Kuje Maximum Security Prison in Abuja to visit former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.

The monarch joined the list of influential Nigerians seeking the release of the former apex bank chief, who has been behind bars for months, despite several court rulings ordering his release.

He was at the facility for his outreach programs with inmates aimed at helping them integrate back into the society upon their release and also to offer them support and assistance as part of humanitarian works.

It was gathered that on both occasions, the monarch had long discussions with the embattled former CBN governor.

Following the discussions Ooni called for the release of Emefiele , who is still behind bars due to his inability to meet the terms of the N300 million bail imposed on him by a court.

Emefiele was dragged to court on a six-count charge bordering on procurement fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He was accused of using his position to confer a corrupt advantage on Sa’adatu Yaro, a staff of CBN, by awarding a contract for the procurement of 43 vehicles worth N1.2 billion between 2018 and 2020.

It would be recalled that Emefiele had earlier been arrested by the Department of State Security (DSS) for over four months before he was picked up by the anti-graft agency.

Efforts to speak with the Ooni’s spokesperson, Moses Olafare, were futile as he neither picked his call nor responded to text message seeking details of the monarch’s meeting with Emefiele.