ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria’s High Court has ordered the country’s state security service to allow detained central bank governor Godwin Emefiele access to his lawyers, an interim court ruling seen by Reuters showed on Friday.
Emefiele was suspended by President Bola Tinubu this month as part of the new president’s drive to reform the central bank, which went on to remove restrictions on foreign currency trading, to the delight of investors.
“The lawyers of the applicant (Emefiele) shall have access to the applicant immediately and regularly, at reasonable time, pending the determination of the application”, Judge Hamza Muazu said in a ruling on Friday.
Emifiele’s application cited the office of the Attorney General and Department of Statement Services (DSS), which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The DSS detained Emefiele on June 10 as part of ongoing investigations but did not say what charges he is facing.
Under Nigeria’s constitution, accused persons cannot be detained for more than 48 hours without appearing in court.
The security agency has not said whether it had obtained a court order extending Emefiele’s detention.
(Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Sandra Maler)
