Former First Lady, Patience
Jonathan, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to commit the Chief
Executive Officers of three major banks – First Bank, Skye Bank and Diamond
Bank – to prison for their persistent refusal to obey the court order that
lifted the embargo placed on accounts linked to her.
Already, forms 48 and 49 which
are legal process of initiating the imprisonment for flouting court order have
been served on Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, the Group Managing Director and Chief
Executive Officer of First Bank; Tokunbo Abiru, CEO Skye Bank, and Uzoma Dozie,
MD/CEO, Diamond Bank.
In a motion on notice brought
pursuant to order 3 rule 1 of the Federal High Court, Jonathan, through her
counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), is praying the court to commit the three
bank chiefs to prison for deliberately refusing to comply with court order that
embargo placed on the 16 bank accounts be lifted since December last year.
The ex-first lady is also seeking
an order of the court striking out a purported ‘ex parte originating summon’
filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), praying for
forfeiture of all funds in the various bank accounts in the three banks to the
federal government.
In a 20 paragraph affidavit in
support of the motion, it was averred that the EFCC had on May 30, 2017,
obtained an exparte order granted by Justice Binta Nyako, freezing all bank
accounts traced to Mrs. Jonathan, her families and business interest.
The order made in respect of
FHC/ABJ/CS/821/2016 was however to last for 90 days when the anti-graft agency
was expected to have completed all investigations in respect of the bank
accounts.
The affidavit deposed to by one
Chinedu Maduba, a legal practitioner in the law firm of G.I. Abibo (SAN)
indicated that the order placed on the bank accounts through the EFCC exparte
motion was vacated in December 5, 2017, when the 90 day life span of the
exparte order expired and vacated by the same Justice Nyako.
The affidavit indicated that the
embargo order on the bank accounts was not renewed or extended by the court in
favour of EFCC.
Mrs. Jonathan and other
applicants in the motion on notice claimed that all efforts to make transaction
in the three banks in compliance with the December 5, 2017, order of the court
de-freezing the accounts were resisted by the chief executive officers of the
three banks.
The affidavit further indicated
that upon enquiry on why transactions were not allowed in the bank accounts in
compliance with court order, Mrs. Jonathan and other applicants were said to
have been told that EFCC had filed exparte originating summon praying for the
forfeiture of all monies in the accounts.
Meanwhile, Justice Nyako has
fixed April 11 to enable EFCC respond to issues raised in the motion as well as
appear in court.
Apart from Mrs. Jonathan, other
applicants seeking to jail the three bank CEOs are Incorporated Trustees of
Ariwabai Aruera Reachout Foundation, Pagmat Oil and Gas Limited, Finchley Top
Homes Limited, AM PM Global Network Limited, Magel Resort Limited and
Incorporated Trustees of Women for Change and Development Initiative Nigeria.
Others are Transocean Property
and Investment Limited, Seagate Property Development Investment Company, Globus
Integrated Services and Pluto Property and Investment Company.
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