SAN FRANCISCO, February 07, (THEWILL) – A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the temporary forfeiture of N75 million in the account of Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), domiciled with Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB).
The Court, presided over by Justice Abdulaziz Anka, gave the order while ruling on a motion ex-parte filed by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which had asked the court to freeze the account on the ground that the amount deposited in the said account on December 15, 2016, is suspected to be proceeds of crime.
Arguing the application, filed by Rotimi Oyedepo, counsel to the EFCC, Idris Mohammed, informed the court that the application was brought pursuant to section 29 of the EFCC Act stating that three exhibits marked 01, 02 and 03 were attached to the motion ex-parte.
He also said an affidavit of urgency, sworn to by an investigator of the agency, Tosin Owobo, was also attached to the application and therefore urged the court to grant the motion ex-parte and order a temporary forfeiture of funds in the account for 120 days.
Delivering a bench ruling on the motion, Anka, invoking a virtually unknown provision in the law ordered that Ozekhome’s account with the sum of N75 million be forfeited for 120 days.
He however added that any party, dissatisfied with the ruling, could file an appeal.
