The Supreme Court yesterday dismissed an appeal filed by former First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan seeking to set aside temporary forfeiture of N9.2 billion and $8.4 million traced to her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) .
The Apex Court technically upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal in Lagos, which affirmed the Federal High Court’s interim order. Dame Jonathan had prayed the Supreme Court to set aside the forfeiture order granted by the Federal High Court in Lagos in April 2018.
But a five-man panel of the apex court, led by Justice Dattijo Muhammad, in a unanimous judgment, dismissed her appeal. In a ruling prepared by Justice Kumai Aka’ahs and delivered by Ejembi Eko, the apex court ordered Dame Jonathan to return to the trial court and show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government.
Justice Eko insisted that the Supreme Court had no reason to interfere with the decision of the lower courts. The court also rejected her prayer to strike down the provisions of section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act and other Fraud related offences Act, which was relied on by the Federal High Court to issue the order of interim forfeiture.
Two other members of the five-man panel, John Okoro and Justice Sidi Bage, agreed with Justice Aka’ah’s lead judgment.
