The AGF addresses claims that he has signed a plea agreement with the former CBN chief, Mr Emefiele, who is facing corruption charges and ongoing investigations.
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, has denied signing any plea bargain agreement with the immediate-past former central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Mr Emefiele, who has been in the custody of the State Security Service (SSS) since he was suspended from office in June, is being investigated for his activities during his nine-year reign at the CBN. While in custody, it was announced that he had tendered his resignation.
The federal government has since charged him with N6.9 billion corruption charges at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja.
On two consecutive occasions in August, the court postponed the arraignment of Mr Emefiele and his co-defendant, Sa'adatu Ramallan-Yaro.
The botched arraignment fuelled speculations that Mr Emefiele might have secured a soft landing from the government concerning the charges.
The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mohammed Abubakar, had in an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES, dispelled the speculation that Mr Emefiele had struck a plea deal with the government.
A plea bargain is a legal process that allows a defendant charged with an offence in court, usually before a trial begins or gets to an advanced stage, to plead guilty to a lesser crime in order to get softer punishment.
In his Saturday statement, Mr Fagbemi described the plea deal report as "false."
"The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice hereby states clearly that these reports are completely false," the official said.
The minister, however, recalled Mr Emefiele's intention for a plea deal through his lawyer, Akinlolu Kehinde, during one of the failed arraignment hearings in Abuja.
"It would be noted that the legal team representing Mr Godwin Emefiele had expressed their 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," Mr Fagbemi explained.
Background
Mr Emefiele who was suspended from office by Mr Tinubu on 9 June has since been in the custody of Nigeria's secret police, SSS, after he was picked up from his home in Lagos and flown to the agency's office in Abuja where he was interrogated.
After holding Mr Emefiele in custody for several weeks, the government arraigned him before the Federal High Court in Lagos over illegal possession of firearms.
However, the two-count charge was later struck out after it was withdrawn by Mr Abubakar, the DPP.
On 14 August, the government filed a 20-count charge bordering on procurement fraud against Mr Emefiele and Ms Ramallan-Yaro.
The charges alleged that Mr Emefiele conferred corrupt advantages on Ms Ramalan-Yaro using her firm, April 1616 Investment Limited, to execute a series of procurement contracts spanning years.
The government alleged that the defendants committed the offences through the award of contracts to Mrs Ramalan-Yaro's company for the supply of posh cars.
The defendants, allegedly through the corrupt transactions, purchased a fleet of about 100 luxurious vehicles and armoured buses worth about N6.9 billion.
The alleged corrupt transactions took place between 2018 and 2020, according to the charges.
Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000, under which he was charged, provides a five-year jail sentence upon conviction.
"Any public officer who uses his office or position to gratify or confer any corrupt or unfair advantage upon himself or any relation or associate of the public officer or any other public officer shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for five years without an option of fine," the law stipulates.
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Mr Emefiele has since remained in SSS custody. Mrs Ramalan-Yaro, who was arrested alongside her husband, Aminu Yaro, on 12 July, is also still in SSS custody.
This newspaper reported how the FCT High Court ordered the release of the couple on 25 July. But the order was not complied with.
Also, it took an order of the FCT High Court on 13 July, more than a month after his arrest, for the SSS to file the firearms charges against Mr Emefiele.
Subsequently, on 25 July, the SSS arraigned him before the Federal High Court in Lagos on two charges of "illegal possession" of firearms and live ammunition.
The government later applied to the court to have the firearms possession charges against Mr Emefiele dropped.
PREMIUM TIMES also reported that Mr Emefiele's co-defendant in the fresh charges also has a pending money laundering case involving about N140 billion.
