Kogi Versus EFCC: Court adjourns ruling on asset forfeiture to April 20
Written by Olarotimi Oshin on March 29, 2023
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Tuesday fixed April 20, 2023, to rule on a Kogi State Application seeking to vacate an interim order of court freezing 14 properties linked to the Kogi State governor.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo fixed the date after taking submissions from the Governor’s counsel, Mr Abdulwahab Mohammed SAN and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Counsel, Mr Rotimi Oyedopo SAN.
The court had on February 22, made an interim forfeiture order following an exparte motion to confiscate 14 properties and firms in Lagos, Abuja, and the United Arab Emirates as well as N400m recovered from one Aminu Falala.
When the matter came up on Tuesday, the Kogi state counsel told the court that he had an application dated March 9, 2023, seeking to vacate the order of the court made on February 22.
The Guardian reports that Mohammed, while moving the application stated that about the third quarter of 2021, EFCC approached the court to freeze Kogi State’s N20bn salary bail-out loan that was allegedly hidden in Sterling bank.
He said that when the Kogi State government called Sterling Bank, the bank denied that such an account existed and that they challenged the freezing order made by Justice Tijjani Ringim that the order was obtained illegally.
