By Alex Enumah in Abuja
Justice Folashade Ogunbanjo-Giwa of the Federal High Court, Abuja on Thursday ordered the permanent forfeiture of some assets said to have been returned by a suspect allegedly linked to the suspended Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita.
The order was made sequel to an application for permanent forfeiture by counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) M. S. Abubakar.
Oyo-Ita is currently under indefinite suspension pending the outcome of the investigation of allegations against her
At Thursday’s proceedings, Abubakar informed the court that between the last adjournment on June 28, 2019 when the court granted an ex parte application for the interim forfeiture of the assets and till date, no party had come forward to lay claim to the funds.
He added that the unnamed suspect who was served with the order of interim forfeiture did not respond.
According to Abubakar, the funds were voluntarily returned to the commission as proceeds of crime.
Following the failure of any claimant to the the funds, the anti-graft agency’s lawyer therefore prayed the court to make the order permanent, adding that the money had been paid into an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria immediately it was returned by the suspect.
In a short ruling, Justice Ogunbanjo-Giwa, subsequently granted the request of the Commission and ordered for the permanent forfeiture of the said assets.
It should be noted that details of the case were not read out in the open court when the judge made the order of final forfeiture of the monetary assets to the Federal Government.
