Delta senator loses fight to reclaim property seized by EFCC

Efforts by Senator Peter Nwaoboshi to reclaim a 12-storey building seized from him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has hit a brick wall.

Justice Abdulazeez Anka of the Federal High Court Ikoyi on Wednesday affirmed the interim forfeiture of the property, based on an application filed by the anti-graft agency.

The agency had argued that the building was the proceeds of crime, and told the court that Nwaoboshi, through his company, Bilderberg Enterprises Limited, got a N1.580bn contract in 2010, to supply some construction equipment to the Delta State Direct Labour Agency.

According to the EFCC, the said contract was a scam, set up to allegedly defraud the state government.

Justice Anka had earlier on April 24, 2017 granted the interim forfeiture of the said property, located at 27, Marine Road, Apapa, Lagos, to the EFCC.

But counsel to Nwaoboshi, Anthony Idigbe, approached the court to discharge the order on the grounds that the EFCC misrepresented and concealed material facts to the court, including a subsisting suit filed against the applicant; and that the court lacks the jurisdiction to grant the order.

The EFCC had, based on an allegation of the N1.5bn alleged contract scam against Nwaoboshi, seized the building.

Idigbe, also argued that the application leading to the interim forfeiture order was an abuse of court processes, and that Justice Anka ought not to have made the order because the judge did not have jurisdiction to entertain the case.

Read also: Hope for peace in Niger Delta as Senate moves to fast-track passage of PIB

He urged the judge to vacate the interim forfeiture order.

However, in his ruling on Wednesday, Justice Anka dismissed Nwaoboshi’s argument, holding that the court could not restrain a security agency from carrying out its statutory functions.

“Investigation activities will not be stopped by the court against the agency while it is carrying out its statutory duties; this will amount to pre-empting the investigative powers of the agency. Investigation activities cannot be stopped by the court,” Justice Anka held, dismissing Nwaoboshi’s application.

It would be recalled, that Senator Nwaoboshi representing Delta North was among those who received a former governor of the state, James Ibori when he was released from prison.

The senator said he was proud to be associated with Ibori who had been convicted and sentenced to prison by a London court after he was found guilty of defrauding his home state.

Nwaoboshi in a video that went viral on social media was seen toasting and eulogising the ex-convict as a ‘leader’ who makes things happen even while in prison in far away London.

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