The Kogi State Government is seeking to vacate an interim order of court freezing 14 properties linked to Kogi State governor. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had secured the temporary forfeiture order in February following an ex parte motion to seize 14 properties located in Lagos, Abuja, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as N400 million, recovered from one Aminu Falala.
In a recent development, Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed April 20 for the ruling on the assets forfeiture order filed by Kogi State Government. The application was made to vacate the interim order of court freezing 14 properties linked to Kogi State governor. The judge entertained arguments from Abdulwahab Mohammed (SAN), who represented Governor Bello and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) counsel, Rotimi Oyedopo (SAN). The ruling was fixed after the hearing of arguments on the matter on Tuesday.
The court had granted the temporary forfeiture order on February 22 following an ex parte motion filed by the anti-graft agency seeking to seize 14 properties located in Lagos, Abuja, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as N400 million, recovered from one Aminu Falala. Mohammed, who moved the application on behalf of the Kogi State Government, submitted that the EFCC had approached the court to freeze Kogi State’s N20bn salary bailout loan that was allegedly hidden in Sterling bank.
Furthermore, Mohammed claimed that the Kogi State government had challenged the freezing order made by Justice Tijjani Ringim, as Sterling Bank denied that such an account existed. The lawyer stated that the Kogi State High Court had granted an order restraining the EFCC from having anything to do with Kogi State until the substantive matter was determined.
However, Kogi State Governor’s representative, Abdulwahab Mohammed, approached the Federal High Court in Lagos seeking to vacate the order. The hearing for the matter was held on Tuesday, and Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court in Lagos fixed April 20 for the ruling.