Ade Adesomoju, Abuja
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday ordered an interim forfeiture of two properties linked to Patience, the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The forfeiture is to last for 45 days but subject to court’s review for an extension upon an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The houses in question are at Plot No. 1960, Cadastral Zone A05, Maitama District, and Plot No. 1350, Cadastral Zone A00, both in Abuja.
They were said to be held in the name of Ariwabai Aruera Reachout Foundation, an organisation floated by Mrs. Jonathan.
The EFCC had in an ex parte application filed in September last year asked for an interim forfeiture of the houses, which it claimed were the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Ruling on the commission’s ex parte application on Monday, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba dismissed Mrs. Jonathan’s objection to the application.
But the court only granted two out of the three prayers contained in the EFCC’s application.
The court ordered the interim forfeiture but ruled that it would only last for 45 days.
He ruled that within the 45 days, EFCC must conclude its investigations and charge the suspects if the said investigations revealed the commission of the alleged crimes linked to the properties.
In granting the second prayer, the court also ordered the stopping of any disposal, conveyance, mortgage, lease, sale or alienation or otherwise of the property/assets described in the schedule attached herein.”
The judge, however, added that the EFCC was at liberty to file an application for the extension of the life span of the order before the expiration of the initial 45 days.
He also ordered that if for any reason the EFCC’s officials needed to access the houses within the period of interim forfeiture, “they must contents and fixtures of the properties and shall file a report/result of such inventory to this court.”
The judge ordered that the inventory of the fixtures in the properties and a report to that effect must be submitted to the court.
But the judge refused to grant the third prayer in which the EFCC asked to be allowed to appoint somebody to manage the property.
According to the judge, the prayer was not supported by the grounds of the application and unnecessary.
He ruled, “Having dismissed the motion challenging the ex parte originating summons, I have gone ahead to carefully consider the application along with all the materials placed before the court to support the request for same, which materials have already been listed at the commencement of this ruling.
“In so far as the essence of this application is to preserve an asset pending the completion of an investigation, I am convinced that those materials placed before me, justify a favourable exercise of the court’s discretion to grant the relief sought in the application.
“I hereby accordingly grant relief 1 and relief 2 sought.
“Relief 3 is refused because it is not supported by the grounds of the application and thus unnecessary in the circumstances of the application.
“The order of court granting the relief shall last only for a period of 45 days within which the applicant must conclude their investigations and file necessary criminal charges where investigations reveal the commission of a crime.
“The applicant is at liberty to apply for a renewal of the order on cause, provided that such an application to be valid is made before the expiry of the 45 days validity period granted by the court.
“Given the highly contentious nature of this application, I further order that where the applicant wishes to physically access the attached properties in execution of the order herein made, the applicant with the representatives of the respondent, shall take an inventory of all the contents and fixtures of the properties and shall file a report/result of such inventory to this court.”
But in his reaction, Patience Jonathan’s lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), said, “We did not lose, we won. What the EFCC wanted was for the property in dispute attached and forfeited to the government but the court refused and instead gave them 45 days to further investigate and prosecute if they so wish with liberty to apply for renewal.
“That is actually victory for us as the property was not forfeited.”
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