Court orders temporary forfeiture of Patience Jonathan’s $5.8m

Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of a Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday issued a fresh interim order of forfeiture of the sum $5.8m belonging to a former First Lady,  Dame Patience Jonathan.

The new order was granted barely 24 hours after the Economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC) withdrew an application for stay of the court’s judgment which had earlier unfrozen Jonathan’s account.

The order was made, following an ex-parte application made by the anti-graft agency that the said money should be forfeited to the Federal government.

In the new motion titled “Action in Rem” the EFCC sought an interim order directing interim forfeiture of the sum of 5.8 million dollars found by it in the Skye bank account of Mrs. Jonathan.

In the application, the EFCC also sought, an order directing the interim forfeiture of another sum of N2.4 billion in an Ecobank account in the name of La wari Furniture and Bath Ltd,  which sum is reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime.

In an affidavit in support of the motion, deposed to the court by one Musbahu Abubakar, the EFCC avers that it received an intelligence report that funds suspected to be proceeds of crime were warehoused in a Skye bank account in the name of Mrs. Jonathan.

The EFCC also said that the said report was analysed and found worthy of investigation, adding that the former First Lady opened the account on February 7, 2013.

According to the commission, several cash deposits were made by Mrs. Jonathan in United States Dollars, through a former special assistant to ex President Goodluck Jonathan, Waripamo Dudafa.

It also avers that another frequent depositor of funds into the said account was one Festus Iyoha, who it said was a steward of the State House Abuja.

According to EFCC,  between February 8, 2013 and January 30 2015, the sum of about $6.7 million, suspected to be proceeds of crime, was deposited into the account.

The commission explained that the former first had dissipated the funds, leaving a balance of about 5.7 million dollars,adding that if the funds are not forfeited in the interim, it may be fully dissipated by Mrs. Jonathan.

While moving the motion on Wednesday , counsel to the EFCC, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo urged the court to grant the order as prayed.

Justice Olatoregun who granted the motion held “order is granted as prayed.”

The judge fixed May 15,2017 to enable any interested party to appear and show cause why the interim order should not be made final.