Court orders temporary forfeiture of cash recovered by EFCC from Ikoyi apartment

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, yesterday, ordered temporary forfeiture of the sums of $43million, £27,800 pounds and N23 million recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, from an apartment in the Ikoyi area of Lagos on Wednesday.

 The ruling came as mystery over ownership of the money deepened yesterday, as speculations were rife that the money belonged to a government security agency.

A representative of the security agency was said to have gotten in touch with EFCC officials last night to claim ownership of the money and also protested against the invasionof the property which he said, was a ‘safe house’.

While the building itself was said to belong to a former chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the apartment in question was said to have been rented by a former Managing Director of NNPC Retail Ltd (a subsidiary of the NNPC). The director has since denied ownership of the money. This is even as some senior lawyers, including Prof. Tahir Mamman, SAN; Prof. Itse Sagay, SAN; Prof. Oyelowo Oyewo; and Mr. Femi Aborisade, bared their minds on the development. 

At the scene yesterday, a few operatives of the Economic and Crimes Commission, EFCC, denied people access to the 12-storey building at Osborne Tower, located close to the residence of the Deputy Governor of Lagos State. A source close to some residents of the Tower told that EFCC operatives seized the mobile phones of staff of Alpha Mead Facilities and Management Services Limited, the company maintaining the building, when they stormed the place.

 The source said: “We had no idea that such amount of money is in the apartment; we usually see a lady who often comes to the apartment. ‘’At times, she comes with two travelling bags. Nobody knows the content of the bags, because we are not allowed to search residents of the apartment. 

Whenever she comes around, she will call for assistance to take the bags to her room. “She did not drop her real name to lodge into the house, and the EFCC agents have been trying to get her real details. As I speak to you now, two officers are in the apartment waiting to see if she would come around. “She was here on Tuesday. She comes during the day and leaves in the evening or sometimes in the night. She doesn’t sleep here, even her clothing are not here, and we clean the room.

“I think she got the apartment only to store money there. We even thought it was wrong information until we saw the money she kept in her toilet, even on top of her wardrobe. It took the EFCC agents about three hours to break into the apartment. “The EFCC agent took the manager along with the Chief Security Officer, CSO, for interrogation. They were later released at 10:00 pm on Wednesday.”

However, yesterday, former Managing Director of NNPC Retail Ltd, Mrs Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue denied any connection whatsoever with the recovered sums of money. In a statement yesterday, her lawyer, Emeka Etiaba, SAN, said:

“The attention of Our Client, Mrs. Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, has been drawn to the news making the round in the News Media to the effect that the large sums of money to wit: $38,000,000.00 (Thirty-Eight Million Dollars),N23,000,000.00 (Twenty-Three Million Naira) and £27,000.00 (Twenty-Seven Thousand Pounds) uncovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) from an apartment in Osborne Towers, Osborne Road, Ikoyi Lagos, Lagos State belong to her.

“By this Press Release, we inform the public (especially the News Media) that the said sums of money and/or the apartment where the sums of money were found do not belong to Our Client. “Our Client is as shocked as many other Nigerians at the uncovering and recovery of the said sums of money and wishes to salute the courage and efforts of the EFCC in the war against corruption. 

“She also wishes to commend the whistle blowing policy introduced by the Federal Government in the fight against corruption which has resulted in large scale uncovering and recovery of monies and assets. “It is our client’s belief that the source and ownership of the said uncovered sums of money is known or eventually will be known by the EFCC in due course. There is, therefore, no need for conjecture or speculation.”

Also yesterday, former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, denied any link with the money and the building in which it was found. Mu’azu:

“My attention has been drawn to the news making the rounds that I own the building on No.16 Osborne Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. I want to state clearly that I built the said property and sold to prospective buyers of individual flats,” he said.

“I have been a property developer since 1983 and I have developed and sold several properties all over the world, the property in question happens to be one of them. I acquired the land and jointly developed it using a bank loan, I obtained about nine (9) years ago. “However all the flats have been sold to prospective buyers inorder to pay back the loan.

I do not own or occupy any of the apartments. I sold all the apartments through established estate agents, as such I have no knowledge or interest in who purchases or rents any of the flats.” Mu’azu commended the EFCC for the fight against corruption, stating that he believes they will reveal the real owner of the apartment, where the monies were found. “I commend the efforts of the official of the EFCC and the government’s drive at fighting corruption and also the media in informing the public on illicit and corrupt proceeds.

“My response is not intended to jeopardise or interfere with the ongoing investigation of the anti graft and security agencies but to clear the misconception that the house in question belongs to me. “I strongly believe that the efforts being made will surely unveil the real owner of such flat and the monies recovered.”