The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission on Monday urged the Federal High Court in Lagos not to
unfreeze a Unity Bank account with a balance of N1,902,673,399.93
belonging to a business woman, Hajiya Bola Shagaya.
The anti-graft agency claimed that the
N1.9bn was the balance of a total of N3,305,150,000, which Shagaya
received as “founder fees” on behalf of an organization, “Women for
Change” being spearheaded by a former First Lady, Mrs. Patience
Jonathan.
The EFCC claimed that the N3.3bn was realized through Shagaya’s “fraudulent activities in the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation,” where she allegedly “influenced the
fraudulent allocation of Dual Purpose Kerosene to Index Petrolube Africa
Limited, with the aid of the former First Lady, Mrs. Dame Patience
Jonathan.”
According to the EFCC, the N3.3bn was
paid by the Index Petrolube Africa Limited and its sister company,
Autodex Nigeria Limited.
The two companies, it said, belong to
one Honorable Ezeani ThankGod, adding that the reason for the N3.3bn
payment was to “fraudulently facilitate Dual Purpose Kerosene to
ThankGod’s company, Index Petrolube Africa Limited.”
The anti-graft agency claimed that out
of the N3.3bn, Shagaya had “paid a cumulative sum of N1,212,000,000 to
the former First Lady, Mrs. Dame Patience Jonathan, through her ‘Women
for Change Initiative’ account domiciled in Diamond Bank, to which the
former First Lady is the sole signatory.”
It said after paying N1.2bn to Patience,
Shagaya kept the balance of N1.9bn for herself by “warehousing” same in
her personal bank account in Unity Bank.
The EFCC said it was on this basis that
it secured an order of Justice Muslim Hassan of the Federal High Court
in Lagos on December 29, 2016 to freeze the account.
It, therefore, begged Justice Oluremi
Oguntoyinbo of the same court not to unfreeze Shagaya’s account, so that
Shagaya would not “use this honorable court as a shield against
criminal investigations and prosecution.”
These were contained in a
counter-affidavit filed by the EFCC in response to an originating
summons filed by Shagaya, urging the court to give her access to her
Unity Bank account, which had been frozen since December 29, 2016.
Shagaya, through her lawyer, Mr.
Napoleon Emeaso-Nwachukwu, contended that she was not given a fair
hearing before Justice Muslim Hassan made the freezing order.
She urged Justice Oguntoyinbo to set
Justice Hassan’s order aside by declaring it unconstitutional, null and
void “as same violates the applicant’s right to own movable property as
guaranteed by Section 44(1)(k) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.”
In a 19-paragraph affidavit deposed to
by one Sulaiman Aliu, Shagaya expressed concern that the ex parte
freezing order made by Justice Hassan appeared, otherwise, to be final
as the judge “did not give any return date for further proceedings and
did not avail the applicant, who was the respondent therein and owner of
the attached properties, a hearing.”
She said there was no criminal charge
against her before and after the freezing order was made to justify her
being denied access to her account by the EFCC.
She added, “The order of this honorable
court made on the 29th of December, 2016 by Honorable Justice M.S.
Hassan deprived the applicant of her property without recourse to
laid-down procedure and due process of law.
“The ex parte order made to last pending
the determination of an investigation, which is devoid of a time
certain and indefinite in nature, is oppressive and a violation of the
applicant’s rights to fair hearing, presumption of innocence and right
to her property.”
She said since “the unlawful freezing of
the applicant’s account by the respondent, the applicant has not been
able to transact with that account due to her inability to access same
and this has caused her business losses and opportunities.”
She said it would be in the best interest of justice to grant her access to her account.
But the EFCC, in opposition, argued that
Justice Oguntoyinbo lacked the power to sit as an appellate court over
Justice Hassan’s decision, describing Shagaya’s originating summons as
an abuse of court processes.
It accused Shagaya of filing the
originating summons “so as to impede the proper dispensation of justice
and thus avoiding criminal investigations and possible prosecution.”
After entertaining arguments from the
EFCC’s lawyer, Idris Mohammed, and Shagaya’s lawyer, Emeaso-Nwachukwu,
on Monday, Justice Oguntoyinbo adjourned till May 17, 2018 for judgment.
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