IN a twist of events on Wednesday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prayed a Federal High Court in Lagos to yet again grant an order seeking forfeiture of $N5.9million found in former First Lady Patience Jonathan’s account, even after it had on Tuesday specifically told the court that it was no longer interested in pursuing a stay of execution order on the disputed money in the account.
The EFCC counsel, lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, on Wednesday brought before the court a new ex parte application to freeze Patience’s account, claiming that the money in the account was proceeds of crime.
Apart from the Mrs Jonathan’s Skye Bank account with $5.9million, the EFCC also prayed the court to freeze an Ecobank account, with a balance of N2.4billion, which was opened in the name of one La Wari Furniture and Bath Limited.
In an affidavit filed in support of the application, an operative of the EFCC, Musbahu Abubakar, stated that Patience opened the Skye Bank account on February 7, 2013, and used it to as a warehouse for looted funds.
According to Abubakar, the former first lady made several cash deposits in United States dollars into the account, through a former Special Assistant to ex-President Jonathan, Waripamo-Owei Dudafa, and a State House steward, Festus Iyoha.
He said as of January 30, 2015, the Skye Bank account had a balance of $6.7million, but Patience subsequently withdrew it down to $5.7m.
The EFCC prayed the court to urgently freeze the account so as to prevent Mrs Jonathan from moving the funds.
After listening to the EFCC’s arguments, Justice Mojisola Olatoregun granted the prayer.
It would be recalled that the EFCC had earlier placed a “No Debit Order” on the account sometimes last year pursuant to an interim order by Justice Olatoregun.
But Patience, had contended the order through her lawyer, Mr Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), and had summarily succeeded in getting the court to vacate the freezing order on April 6, 2017.
The EFCC had however appealed and also filed an application seeking a stay of execution of the freezing order pending the outcome of the appeal.
However, in a turn of events in Tuesday, the EFCC prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, told the court that the commission had changed its mind about challenging the freezing order and applied to withdraw the application to stay the execution of the unfreezing order.
Consequently, the judge on Tuesday struck out the application for stay of execution, giving Patience unhindered access to the funds.