A federal high court sitting in Lagos has set aside its
interim order of forfeiture made against Bukola Saraki, former senate
president.
The court had, in October 2019, granted the request of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to confiscate Saraki’s
properties located at 17 and 17A, MacDonald road, Ikoyi, Lagos state.
The EFCC had then applied to the court for final forfeiture
of the properties.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, the judge noted that the essence of an interim order of forfeiture is to preserve the property from being dissipated by the suspect and the burden is on the applicant — that is the EFCC — to prove that the property is part of proceeds of unlawful activity under the corruption laws.
He agreed with Kehinde Ogunwumiju, Saraki’s counsel, that
the commission had failed to show that the funds used to purchase the property
were illicitly taken from the Kwara state government house account.
The court held that the funds used by Saraki to purchase the
properties were legal.
The application for final forfeiture was accordingly
dismissed and the order of interim forfeiture was vacated.
In July 2020, Rilwan Aikawa, a federal high court judge in
Lagos, had also returned two houses located at plots 10 and 11, Abdulkadir
road, GRA, Ilorin, belonging to Saraki.
Aikawa, in his judgment, said the EFCC failed to prove that
the former senate president purchased the properties with state government
funds.
Reacting to the court’s decision in a tweet on Thursday,
Saraki said: “I thank the Almighty Allah who has given me the opportunity to
serve my state and country; and who has given me the strength to continually
fight to assert my innocence. By his grace, I have always served with
diligence, honour and integrity and I will continue to do so.
“It is my fervent
hope that this judgment will put an end to the campaign of calumny waged
against my person and allow me to focus on my life as a law abiding Nigerian
citizen.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayI thank the Almighty Allah who has given me the opportunity to serve my State and Country; and who has given me the strength to continually fight to assert my innocence. By His grace, I have always served with diligence, honour and integrity and I will continue to do so.
— Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) March 4, 2021
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