Alleged $5.78m, N2.4bn fraud: Court fixes Oct. 7, to hear suit against Mrs Jonathan
(Nigeria) A Lagos Federal High Court on Monday, adjourned
till October 7, 2021, for hearing of an
application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,
seeking an order for final forfeiture of
the sum of $5.78 million and N2.4 billion, linked to the former First Lady,
Dame Patience Jonathan.
Trial judge, Tijjani Garuba Ringim, adjourned the date after
hearing the submissions of the counsel to the parties in the matter.
EFCC had filed the application for forfeiture sometimes in
2017 before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun, now retired.
The defendants in the suit marked FHC/L/CS/640/2017, were;
Dame Patience Jonathan and a firm, LA Wari Furniture and Bathes.
The monies were said to have been warehoused by Skye Bank
Plc and Ecobank Plc respectively.
Justice Olatoregun on April 26, 2017, ordered the temporary
forfeiture of the monies, sequel to an ex-parte application filed and moved by
the EFCC lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo.
The judge’s order was affirmed by both the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
However, midway to the conclusion
of hearing on the final forfeiture of the said sums, Justice Olatoregun retired
from the Bench in 2019.
The development compelled the Chief Judge of the court to
re-assign the matter to Justice Chuka Obiozor for hearing.
However, Justice Obiozor could not hear the case before he
was transfered to the Benin division of
the court.
At the resumed hearing of the matter Monday, EFCC counsel,
Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, told Justice Ringim how far the matter had gone.
Oyedepo said: “This matter is a suit instituted before your
learned brother, Justice Olatoregun now retired, where we prayed for the final
forfeiture of the sum of $5,781,173.55, warehoused in Skye Bank Plc and
N2,421,953,502.78, property of LA Wari Furniture and Bathes in Ecobank Plc.
An interim order was
granted on April 24, 2017, upon which appeal was initiated up to Supreme Court and an application for
its final forfeiture was moved but the trial judge didn’t deliver the judgment
before retiring.
“It was upon that fact that the file was transferred to the
registry where it was reassigned to the former judge and subsequently your
Lordship."
Counsel to Mrs Jonathan, Mr Ifedayo Adedipe and Gboyega
Oyewole, both SANs, also informed the judge that the case was adjourned for
mention because it was coming up for the first time before him. While counsel
to the companies, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, also urged the court to adjourn the case
on the premise that it was starting afresh and that he intended to file an
application challenging the constitutionality of the entire proceedings.
Ozekhome (SAN), prayed the court to grant a long adjournment
to enable him file the application that the case is supposed to start afresh.
Oyedepo opposed the application, praying the court not to
grant it, because, according to him, there is a procedure enshrined in section
17 of the Advanced Fee Fraud and other related offences Act, which the EFCC had
complied with except the last step which is a motion for final forfeiture.
He urged the judge to look at the proceedings of February
17, 2021, where the former judge adjourned the hearing of the motion for final
forfeiture till April 13, which could not hold because of the Judiciary Staff
Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, strike.
He urged the Judge that should the court be inclined to
grant an adjournment, it should be for the motion for final forfeiture.
In his ruling, Justice Ringim
declared that a proceeding of this nature is a special one and cannot be
truncated by any application.
He added: “I say in my humble opinion that there is a
procedure to follow in this type of application which cannot be truncated.
“The court cannot adjourn the matter because of an application which is yet to be filed. However, due to the nature of the application as hinted by the second respondent, the court will not shut the application out.
“This court will adjourn for the hearing of the application
for final forfeiture that is pending.
“Consequently, the second respondent is hereby ordered to file the application if any within 14 days from today and the plaintiff will have one week to respond. It will be heard alongside the motion for final forfeiture."
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