The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and
Public Petitions has directed banks to unfreeze the accounts of former First
Lady, Patience Jonathan.
The committee after subjecting
the management of four different banks, where Mrs. Jonathan had accounts,
directed that those accounts not encumbered by any legal process be re-opened.
The committee, headed by Sam
Anyanwu, noted that some of the accounts were frozen based on some
administrative lapses.
According to the committee, “one
of the accounts which is with Stanbic IBTC Bank had not breached any known law
or due process.”
The committee also directed that
the account with Zenith Bank must be re-opened because the court order which
directed that it should be frozen had been vacated.
The committee members were
particularly unhappy with what they called arbitrary manner in which the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) used the banks to close the
accounts without complying with due process of law.
After listening to the committee,
bank executives present informed the lawmakers that the court order vacating
the earlier ones relied upon by the EFCC to close the accounts were not made
available to them.
Consequently, they promised to
re-open those accounts having been made known of the vacation order.
The committee expressed shock
that the banks could rely on an ordinary letter by the EFCC anticipating a
favourable ruling to freeze customers’ accounts.
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