Court confirms seizure of Fayose's assets

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday confirmed its order of July 20, 2016, authorising the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to seize some assets belonging to Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, pending the conclusion of an ongoing investigation.

In his ruling, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba said that the order of interim forfeiture did not violate the provisions of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, which confers immunity from civil and criminal proceedings on a sitting governor.

“It is my considered opinion that the order of court, made on July 20, 2016, in respect of some property of the applicant, and within the limited scope and duration within which it was obtained, was duly procured and does not offend the provision of the Constitution referred to.

“Although Section 308 of the Constitution serves to isolate governors of states from the distraction of litigation and legal proceedings to enable them to attend to official responsibilities, it should not be interpreted in such a way as to defeat the fight against corruption, to mean that the EFCC or other investigating agencies cannot take a peep into the assets or personal accounts of a serving governor in the execution of a strictly worded and mutually supervised interim attachment orders for the purposes of obtaining evidence for use in future when the immunity has lapsed.”

Justice Dimgba reminded the EFCC that the interim forfeiture order of July 20 has a lifespan of 45 days within which they must conclude their investigation.

He noted that the order would automatically dissolve if the EFCC failed to apply for extension at least 5 days to its expiration.

"In the interest of justice and not to appear to make a mockery or nonsense of the immunity clause, I hold that the interim attachment order of July 20, 2016, granted by this court in favour of the respondent (EFCC) shall last for 45 days as the court had already ordered, within which the respondents must conclude their investigation in respect of the property, at the end of which every encumbrance on the property arising from the order of court, must abate.

“I order that in the event that the respondent may wish to renew the interim attachment order, as they are entitled to, they must serve the motion to that effect on the applicant not later than five days to the expiration of that order, without which the order shall stand abated.”

Governor Fayose's properties affected by the interim forfeiture order include four units of four-bedroom apartments at Charlets 3, 4, 6 and 9; Plot 100, Tiaminu Savage, Victoria Island, Lagos and two others at 44 Osun Crescent, Maitama, Abuja, and Plot 1504, Yedesram Street, Maitama, Abuja.