SAN FRANCISCO, January 19, (THEWILL) – The Federal High Court in Lagos has dismissed the claim of Union Bank Plc to Flat 7B, Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, describing the bank as a busybody and ordered the permanent forfeiture of the property to the Federal Government.
The flat attracted public attention in April 2017 when large sums of money, $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23, 218,000 (about N13bn), were recovered from it thanks to a whistle-blower.
THEWILL had exclusively reported that the money belongs to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) which was confirmed as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) traced the ownership of the apartment to Mrs. Folashade Oke, wife of the sacked Director General of the Agency, Ayodele Oke.
It claimed that its investigations revealed that Folashade bought the property with proceeds of fraud by her husband and urged the court to order the permanent forfeiture of the property to the Federal Government.
In a ruling on Friday, Justice Mojisola Olatoregun, said she found from the papers filed before the court, that the bank had already sold the property to Chobe Ventures Ltd., a company owned by Mrs. Oke.
“It appears to me that the interested party (Union Bank) is a busybody, who is crying more than the bereaved, having transferred all its rights on the property, the subject matter of this suit,” she said.
“The interested party has no legal reason to lodge any complaint on the steps being taken by the EFCC on the property, having divested its interest by the outright sale of the property to Chobe Ventures.
“I find the interested party’s motion, seeking to vacate the interim order of forfeiture granted by this court on November 9, 2017, as unmeritorious and same is struck out.
“From the affidavit evidence before the court, the applicant (EFCC) has shown clearly that the property sought to be forfeited was reasonably suspected to have been acquired with the proceeds of unlawful activities of Mr. and Mrs. Ayodele Oke in the name of Chobe Ventures.
“The fund belongs to the Federal Government of Nigeria, which, at the material time, is under the control of Ambassador Ayodele Oke.”
The Judge noted that the respondent, Chobe Ventures Ltd., refused and neglected to either file any process or appear in court and then ordered the final forfeiture of the property to the Federal Government.
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