A Federal High Court in Abuja has overturned an interim ruling that 40 properties connected to the former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu should be forfeited to the federal government.
Justice Inyang Ekwo overturned the order yesterday due to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's (EFCC) failure to disclose pertinent facts, particularly in light of Ekweremadu's imprisonment in the UK.
Justice Ekwo concurred with the argument made by Ekweremadu's attorney, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Adegboyega Awomolo, that his client's arrest would prevent him from asserting his ownership of the properties.
The EFCC acquired a court order on November 4, 2022, ordering the temporary seizure of the properties as mentioned earlier as the proceeds of corruption.
But Ekweremadu claimed in an application filed by Awomolo on December 15, 2022, that the forfeiture order was obtained inadvertently because the anti-graft organisation had concealed his troubles at the UK's Uxbridge Magistrate Court, where he is currently being held on suspicion of trafficking David Ukpo in order to obtain his kidney for his daughter's desperately needed transplant.
Ekweremadu claimed that the EFCC deceitfully secured the forfeiture judgement for the government by hiding the fact that the inquiry into the 40 properties began in 2008.