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Jonathan family to forfeit N1bn to Nigerian govt

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Court orders interim forfeiture of multi-billion naira properties linked to Patience Jonathan

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured an interim forfeiture order to seize N1 billion naira said to belong to some members of the family of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The order was issued by Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa, of the Federal High Court sitting in Kano upon an ex parte motion filed by the EFCC.

ice Allagoa ruled that the said amount was found domiciled in a Fidelity Bank account of Magel Resort Limited, a company linked to the wife of the former president, and some others believed to be members of the Jonathan family.

Investigations by the EFCC revealed that N500,000 was deposited into the account on the 20th of May, 2015 by one Esther Fynface, who is alleged to be in charge of the Company, while N1 billion (One Billion Naira Only) was transferred in two tranches on the 25th May, 2015 from PAGMAT OIL AND GAS NIGERIA LIMITED, a company that was not incorporated with the Corporate Affairs Commission.

Read also: EFCC fails to arraign ex-NIA boss Oke, wife

The EFCC claimed that it’s investigations showed that Patience and some relatives of former President Jonathan were directors of the Company.

Others named as directors are Oba Oba Tamunotonye, Goodluck Jonathan Aruera, Goodluck Jonathan Ariwabai and Esther Fynface. In trying to trace the origin of the money,

The judge ruled that the money be deposited into the Treasury Single Account of the Federal Government.

He held, “An interim forfeiture order is granted to the Federal Government in the sum of N1,000,494,000 (One Billion, Four Hundred and Ninety Four Thousand Naira Only) in the Bank account of the 1st respondent Magel Resort Limited 4011019546 which is maintained with 2nd respondent Fidelity Bank Plc”.

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