Former First Lady, Patience Jonathan has filed an appeal against a recent judgement by the Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court, Lagos, which ordered the final forfeiture of $8.4m and N9.2bn to the Federal government.
The appeal filed by Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria before the Court of Appeal, Lagos, is seeking an order of the Court to set aside the judgement of the Federal High Court on the forfeiture if the monies
In the notice of appeal filed before the Court, Counsel of the former First Lady, Ozekhome, said the appellant having being dissatisfied with the Judgement of CMA Olatoregun, of the Lagos Federal High Court, hereby appeal to the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgement.
The Appellant noted that the learned trial Judge erred in law and thus occasioned a miscarriage of justice where he assumed Jurisdiction to hear the motion for final forfeiture
The notice said the Appellants’ had not clearly provided uncontroverted evidence of how its monies were domiciled in their accounts were made.
That the Appellant had discharged the burden placed on it by Section 17 of the Advanced Fees Fruad and other related offenses Act, 2007.
The Counsel said the trial judge erred in law in ordering the final forfeiture of the Appellants’ monies to the Federal government as per the prayers in the 1st Respondent’s notice of motion for final forfeiture on the 28 of February, 2019, pursuant to the provisions of section 17of the Advanced Fees Fraud and Other related Offenses Act when the jurisdiction of Honourable Court is being challenged.
The decision of the lower Court made of February 28, 2019, ordering final forfeiture of the Appellants’ monies in various accounts as per the application for final forfeiture filed by the EFCC and return the said funds to the accounts of the Appellants
They pointed out that the notice of Discontinuance filed by the 1st Respondent in suit no FHC/ABJ/ 1207/2017 has not been adopted as the suit pending before the Federal High Court, Abuja.
“As at the date of filing the present action which the Appellant is appealing against, the other actions were still pending and no notice of Discontinuance had been filed”
He noted that the learned trial Judge erred in law and thus occasioned a miscarriage of justice in law in ordering the final forfeiture of the Appellants monies to the federal government of Nigeria as per the prayers in the 1st Respondent’s notice of motion for final forfeiture on 28 February, 2019, pursuant to the provisions of section 17 of the Advanced Fees Fraud and other Related Offenses Act when she did not first of all reach a decision as to whether the Appellant had shown sufficient cause which would have warranted a exercise of the learned lower Court’s discretion to discharge of an interim order of forfeiture before proceeding to hear the application for initial forfeiture filed by the 1st Respondent.
No dates has been fixed fir hearing.
Tony Ailemen, Abuja
