Exactly a week when the Supreme Court upheld Federal Government’s interim seizure of the $8.4million claimed to be owned by former First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, the apex court has also agreed to a similar forfeiture of another N2.4bn linked to the same first lady Mrs. Jonathan.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) revealed the $8.4m were discovered in an account linked to Mrs. Jonathan, the N2,421,953,522.00 was discovered to be held in bank accounts owned by Lawari Furniture and Bath Limited, an entity in which Mrs. Jonathan allegedly has interest.
While delivering the judgment on Friday, a five-man panel of the Supreme Court rejected the appeal by Lawari Furniture on the grounds that it was without merit. The appeal was filed and argued for by Mike Ozekhome (SAN).
In the lead judgment as presented by Justice Amiru Sanusi, but read by Justice Sidi Bage the court upheld the order of interim forfeiture made by a High Court in Lagos on April 26, 2017, which was affirmed by the Court of Appeal, Lagos in a judgment delivered in January 12, 2018.
The court rejected the argument by Ozekhome (SAN), who faulted the interim order of forfeiture obtained by the EFCC via an ex-parte motion, and prayed that it should be set aside.
It also rejected the appellant’s prayer to void Section 17 of the Advanced Fee Fraud Act and other Fraud related offenses Act, on which the High Court hinged in issuing the order of interim forfeiture.
The court, in the lead judgment, revealed that it rarely interferes in the concurrent findings of the two lower courts, except where there are extraordinary circumstances and the findings is vicious.
In his supporting judgment, a member of the panel, Justice Ejembi Eko pointed out that the substance of this appeal was similar to the one decided by the court on March 8 this year (relating to the interim forfeiture of $8.4m).
Other members of the panel: Justices Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, Mary Peter Odili and Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, agreed with the lead judgment.
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