The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, has accused the wife of former President, Goodluck Jonathan, Patience, of lying before the Federal High Court in Abuja, that her property was illegally demolished, Vanguard reports.
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The EFCC, in a 14-paragraphed counter-affidavit that was deposed to by one of its Lead Investigators, Mr. Kolawole Mukaila, told the court that the said property which was registered in the name of Ariwabai Aruera Reachout Foundation/Women For Change and Development Initiative, a pet project initiated by the former First Lady, was still intact.
Mukaila said he was a member of a Special Task Force investigating alleged amounts of money laundered by Mrs. Jonathan, “into various accounts and properties purchased, which are disproportionate to her known source of income”.
It will be recalled that the high court had on January 22, ordered an inquiry into the alleged illegal demolition of the property, which has been a subject of litigation between Mrs. Jonathan and the anti-graft Agency.
The EFCC had approached the court for an order of interim attachment/forfeiture of assets and properties of the Foundation.
In an ex-parte motion that was signed by its Lawyer, Mr. Benjamin Manji, the Agency prayed the court to grant it the ownership of Plot No. 1960, Cadastral Zone A05, Maitama District, and Plot No. 1758, Cadastral Zone A00, Central Business District, in Abuja.
It equally sought for “an order stopping any disposal, conveyance, mortgage, lease, sale or alienation, or otherwise of the property/asset”.
However, Mrs. Jonathan, in a swift reaction, filed a motion to challenge the powers of the Commission to take possesion of assets of the Foundation.
The former First Lady said she got wind of EFCC’s plans and decided to file a counter-motion in opposition to the interim forfeiture order request.
She prayed the court to strike out EFCC’s ex-parte originating motion, dated September 20, 2017, on the ground that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the application which she said was legally defective.
Meanwhile, when the matter came up for hearing at the last adjourned date, Mrs. Jonathan’s Lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, accused the EFCC of resorting to self-help, alleging that it instigated the demolition of the disputed property.
Following a denial by EFCC’s Lawyer, Mr. Rimamsomte Ezekiel, that the Agency was not aware of the alleged demolition, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba adjourned to get a report on the actual state of the said property.
At the resumed proceeding on Monday, the EFCC, in its report, told the court that contrary to Mrs. Jonathan’s claim, the property it applied to seize from the Foundation was still standing.
The Commission which tendered four picture-exhibits to prove its claim, told the court that the Federal Capital Development Authority/Development Control, FCDA, only demolished “a mini chalet” that was constructed without approval.
It insisted that most of the depositions Mrs. Jonathan made in the affidavit where she claimed that the disputed property was demolished, “were untrue, false and aimed at misleading the court”.
According to EFCC: “The property which the applicant applied to this court to forfeit, known as Plot No. 1758 Cadatsral Zone A00, Central Business District, Abuja, is still existing, and was never demolished by any person or group of persons”.
It alleged that Ozehkome misrepresented facts by making the court to believe that the entire structure was demolished by EFCC officials in conjunction with the FCDA, “whereas it was only a mini-chalet situated behind the main structure, that was demolished by FCDA/Development Control, due to non approval”.
“That upon enquiry from FCDA/Development Control, I was reliably informed that Development Control under the FCDA carried out the said demolition of the chalet, and the reason is that the building of the chalet has no government approval as specified by law.
“That I know as a fact that the Applicant or any of its officer has no hand in the said demolition. That the FCDA/Development Control is a different and distinct unit of the Federal Government from the Applicant, with different mandates”, Mukaila added.
However, Ozehkome, who told the court that he was only served with a copy of the counter-affidavit on Sunday, discribed EFCC’s claim as “a lie from the pit of hell”.
He told the court that out of four buildings belonging to the former First Lady’s Foundation, two were “wantonly demolished”.
“My lord, what they did was to go to the back to take pictures of the ones still standing. Thank God we have pictures of the demolished building, and we even have the CD of the demolition.
“More so, even if it was only one room that was demolished in a matter that was already before a court, does that not amount to a gross abuse of the principle of lis-pendis?
“We are going to show that they resorted to self-help and took laws into their hands. EFCC which is an agent of the government, cannot claim that it did not insitigate the demolition of the property by another Agency of the same government.
“In view of the lies contained in this counter-affidavit, my lord, we shall be asking for an adjournment to enable us to file additional affidavit, and also tender more evidence to prove that EFCC resorted to self-help”, Ozehkome pleaded.
Owing to the request, Justice Dimgba adjourned the matter till April 12.
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