Senator Ike Ekweremadu, a former deputy senate president, said on Thursday in Abuja’s Federal High Court that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was to blame for his difficulties at the London Court where he is being held in custody.
The Senator, who has been detained in London on suspicion of stealing organs, said before the court that the anti-graft agency sent a letter to the London court that prevented the foreign court from granting him release.
In a request for an injunction setting aside the interim order granted in favor of the Federal Government for the forfeiture of his 40 properties inside and outside of the country, Ekweremadu made the claims detailed in his application to the Federal High Court.
Ekweremadu stated in the suit submitted by his attorney, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), that the Federal Government granted the forfeiture order inadvertently because the EFCC withheld information and facts regarding the assets.
The imprisoned Senator said especially that the EFCC deceitfully secured the forfeiture judgment for the government by hiding the fact that the 40 properties were the subject of an inquiry that began in 2008.
He claimed, among other things, that when the case for forfeiture of the properties was submitted and contested, the EFCC was fully aware that he was being held in London.
The troubled senator claimed that the anti-graft organization knowingly failed to inform the court that he was being held in detention in London and would be unable to contest the request for forfeiture.
The Senator consequently requested that the forfeiture order be reversed and that the case’s proceedings be put on hold until he is finished with his suffering with the London Court.
Silvanus Tahir (SAN), the EFCC’s attorney, refuted claims that his client was responsible for Ekweremadu’s suffering.
He did, however, acknowledge that the EFCC wrote the London Court in response to a particular request and added that sharing information that would be useful to one another was usual for anti-graft organizations.
Tahir contested the plea to set aside the forfeiture order but did not object to the request for a stay of the proceedings until Ekweremadu had properly resolved his case before the London Court.
After hearing arguments from the parties involved, the trial judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, scheduled a judgement for January 25, 2023.
40 landed properties connected to Ekweremadu in several regions of the nation and abroad were ordered to be temporarily forfeited by the court on November 4.
Following an ex-parte motion filed and brought by Ibrahim Buba, counsel for the EFCC, Justice Ekwo delivered the decision.
The anti-graft agency was given a seven-day deadline by Justice Ekwo, who granted the request, to publish the interim forfeiture order of the property in a national daily.
Anyone with a stake in the forfeited property must explain, within 14 days of the interim forfeiture order’s publication, why the property should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government.
Ten properties are in Enugu, three are in the US, two are in the UK, one is in Lagos, nine are in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and fifteen are in the Federal Capital Territory.
