By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
The court of appeal sitting in Lagos has restored the preservation order on 14 properties and the sum of N400m linked to the former governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Adoza Bello
Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the federal high court Lagos division had, in 2023, in a suit filed by the economic and financial crimes commission, ordered the preservation of the properties as well as the fund reasonably suspected to have been allegedly derived from unlawful activities.
However, in 2023, the trial court struck out the EFCC’s suit, seeking the final forfeiture of the assets on the grounds that Bello, then a sitting governor, enjoyed constitutional immunity.
The EFCC contended that the immunity does not extend to assets linked to alleged unlawful activities and that the trial court failed to follow judicial precedents.
In a lead judgment delivered by Justice Nimpar Yargata, the three-man panel of justices confirmed the efcc’s position, and held that the lower court erred when it struck out the suit, despite finding that the respondent had failed to show the legitimate origin of the funds used to acquire the properties.
The three-man panel, therefore, directed that the suit for the final forfeiture of the properties should proceed accordingly.
