The Supreme Court has
upheld the order of temporary forfeiture made by a Federal High Court in Lagos
in respect of the $8.4million traced by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) to former First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan.
In
a judgment yesterday, a five-man panel of the court unanimously held that the
appeal filed by Mrs. Jonathan, challenging the interim forfeiture, was without
merit.
In
the lead judgment authored by Justice Kumai Akaahs, but read yesterday by
Justice Ejembi Eko, the court said the Federal High Court was right to have
ordered the temporary forfeiture of the money in view of the motion ex-parte
filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The
apex court upheld an earlied judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lagos, which
equally upheld the temporary forfeiture.
The
Supreme Court ordered Mrs.Jonathan to go before the Federal High Court in Lagos
to show cause, as earlier directed by the trial court, why the order for
permanent forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government should not be made.
Justices
Musa Muhammad, John Okoro, Paul Galumje and Sidi Bage, who were members of the
panel, agreed with the lead judgment.
The
EFCC had, in 2018 went before the Federal High Court in Lagos with an ex-parte
motion, brought under Section 17 of the Advanced Fee Fraud Act (AFFA) and
prayed for interim forfeiture of $8,435,788.84 and other sums in various bank
accounts linked to Mrs. Jonathan which it claimed were suspected proceeds of
unlawful activities.
- The Nation
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