The Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, has declined a request by defence counsel to adjourn proceedings in the trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, over allegations linked to the naira redesign. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Emefiele on a four-count charge relating to the alleged unlawful printing of new naira notes.
The charges were confirmed in a statement issued by the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale. At the resumed hearing, prosecution counsel, Abbas Mohammed, told the court that the matter was scheduled for the continuation of the cross-examination of the seventh prosecution witness (PW7), who was present in court.
However, defence counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, objected and applied for an adjournment. He argued that the prosecution had only provided a statement allegedly made by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc about 20 minutes before proceedings, leaving insufficient time to review the document.The prosecution opposed the request, urging the court to proceed with the cross-examination. Justice Maryanne Anineh ruled that the defence should continue, and PW7 was further cross-examined.
Following the session, the defence again sought an adjournment, citing the prosecution’s claim that it did not have the original statement in question. The prosecution responded that the Managing Director had already testified as PW2 and that all relevant documents were before the court. Justice Anineh adjourned the trial to March 19; April 1 and 2; May 11 and 12; and June 9 and 10, 2026, for continuation.
