Justice Mohammed Liman of the Federal High Court in Lagos has set aside its interim forfeiture order made against the properties of former Senate President Bukola Saraki, located at 17 and 17A MacDonald Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Justice Liman held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) failed to prove that the monies used to purchase the property were from the Kwara State government house account.
The anti-graft agency had sought to forfeit both properties to the Federal Government, on the allegation that they were acquired with funds Saraki diverted while he was Kwara State governor.
It obtained an interim forfeiture order for the properties on October 21, 2019.
The EFCC alleged that between 2003 and 2011, Saraki “withdrew over N12 billion cash from the account of the Kwara State Government and paid same into his accounts domiciled in Access and Zenith banks through one of his personal assistants, Abdul Adama, at different intervals.”
It said the ex-governor obtained a bank loan of N1.6 billion to buy the houses and later repaid the loan with money diverted from the state treasury.
But deciding the case, the judge held that the EFCC failed to discharge its burden to satisfy the court that the properties were proceeds of unlawful or illegal activity under the law.
Justice Liman also found that the EFCC had in its affidavit in support of its motion for final forfeiture stated that the properties sought to be forfeited were purchased with a personal loan Saraki obtained from Guaranty Trust Bank.
The court agreed with the submission of Saraki’s counsel Kehinde Ogunwumiju, SAN, that the burden of proof for final forfeiture is on the preponderance of evidence and that the Applicant failed to show that the monies used to purchase the property were from the Kwara State government house account.
The court observed that the evidence of transactions presented by the EFCC in support of its allegation, were in respect of transactions made after Saraki had purchased the property and the proceeds used for the purchase were legal i.e. loans.
In the final analysis, Justice Liman held that the applicant failed to prove its entitlement to the relief of final forfeiture of the respondent’s properties, accordingly dismissed the application and vacated the interim forfeiture order it made on October 21, 2019.
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