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Court vacates interim forfeiture order on Nwaoboshi’s properties
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday granted the prayers of the Senator representing Delta North at the National Assembly, Peter Nwaoboshi, as the order of interim forfeiture placed on some assets linked to him was lifted.
Justice Taiwo Taiwo, who made the order on July 20, 2019, in his ruling on Monday, said he had no jurisdiction to issue the order.
The judge had issued the interim forfeiture which affected 11 houses and 22 bank accounts said to have been linked to the senator following an ex-parte application by the Special Presidential Investigative Panel for the Recovery of Public Property.
The special investigative panel, in an ex-parte application by its lawyer, Celsus Ukpong, described the assets as suspicious or suspected to be far beyond the legitimate income of Nwaoboshi.
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But, Justice Taiwo set aside the forfeiture order, following an application filed by Nwaoboshi’s lawyer, Robert Clarke (SAN), dismissing Ukpong’s objection to the senator’s application, ruling that the court lacked jurisdiction to grant the interim order of forfeiture.
According to the judge, the November 5, 2018 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja declared the SPIP as having no power to apply for and obtain the order of interim forfeiture.
Justice Taiwo also held that the fact that the SPIP’s application for the interim order was instituted in the name of the Attorney-General of the Federation was immaterial, adding that as long as due process stipulated in the SPIP’s enabling Act was not followed, the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the application and the order of interim forfeiture on the basis of the application was bound to be set aside.
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