1st February, 2019
Former First Lady, Patience Jonathan has been ordered by the Federal High Court siting in Kano to forfeit N1 billion to the Federal Government.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC secured an interim forfeiture of N1,000,494,000 belonging to the former first lady.
The order was granted by Justice Lewis Allagoa of the Federal High Court sitting in Kano, according to a statement issued by the EFCC on Friday.
The forfeiture was as a result of a motion ex parte filed by the Commission seeking for the interim forfeiture of the sum of N1,000,494,000 found in the bank account of Magel Resort Limited, a company linked to the former First Lady of Nigeria, Patience Jonathan.
The EFCC received an intelligence alleging that a bank account domiciled in Fidelity Bank was said to have stored huge sum of money that is not being used by anybody.
Upon receipt of the intelligence, the Commission swung into action by conducting preliminary investigations which revealed that the former First Lady and some relatives of ex-President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan are directors of the company.
Others named as directors of the company are Oba Tamunotonye, Goodluck Jonathan Aruera, Goodluck Jonathan Ariwabai and Esther Fynface.
While tracing the origin of the money, it was discovered that N500,000 was deposited on the 20th May, 2015 by Esther Fynface, who is alleged to be in charge of the company; while N1,000,000,000 was transferred in two tranches on the 25th May, 2015 from Pagmat Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited, a company that is not incorporated with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
The court order reads that: “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”.
The court further ordered that the forfeited sum be deposited in the Treasury Single Account of the Federal Government, Punch reports.