In 2016, Taiwo set aside an order
of a federal high court in Lagos empowering the EFCC to freeze two Zenith Bank
accounts of Fayose.
The court had asked the EFCC to
immediately lift the freeze order on the two accounts belonging to the
governor, saying the anti-graft agency did not follow due process.
Taiwo had given the order while
delivering his judgment, which lasted more than two hours, in a suit filed by
the governor through Mike Ozekhome, his counsel.
The judge said the rights of the
governor had been infringed upon, considering the circumstance of his office.
He declared that apart from the
immunity which Fayose currently enjoys as a sitting governor under section 308
of the constitution, it was wrong for EFCC to freeze his two accounts in
apparent perpetuity without first investigating him or making him a party.
He described Fayose as “a
genuinely deprived person who rushed to the court to seek constitutional
protection”.
The judge said it was also the
duty of any presiding judge to protect the said constitution and its
interpretations whenever the need arose.
“The plaintiff is entitled to be
heard before his property or money can be seized; doing otherwise will amount
to denying him fair hearing and constitutional rights,” he had said.
The judge refused to grant other
reliefs sought by the governor, including a perpetual injunction restraining
EFCC or its agents from further tampering with his property.
The judge also refused to grant
another relief asking for payment of N5billion as exemplary damages.
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Does the Governor not have immunity anymore. This is an abuse of his right. The EFCC must be made to pay damages for inconveniencing the Governor.
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