Court orders forfeiture of money to FG

Justice

Justice Hassan had, on Thursday April 13, ordered temporary forfeiture of the funds to the Federal Government.

News of the forfeiture first broke with a tweet from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on its twitter handle(@officialEFCC), announcing, "Breaking: Justice Hassan Orders Final Forfeiture of $43.4m, £27,800, N23.2m to the Federal Government. Details later."

The loot was recovered by officials of the EFCC in Flat 7B, No. 16, Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos during a raid on Wednesday, April 12.

A lot of controversy trailed the discovery of the loot, with public outcry, especially on social media, demanding that the culprits be brought to book.

The loot was initially claimed to belong to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) when its director Ayodele Oke said that the $50 million found in the apartment was marked for covert operations.

This prompted President Muhammadu Buhari'sdecision to order Oke's suspension and set up a three-man panel headed by current Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo to get to properly investigate the matter.

The issue became even more controversial when Senator George Thompson Sekibo, a lawmaker representing Rivers East senatorial district appeared at plenary with a whistle, claiming that the loot belongs to the Rivers state government.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike further claimed ownership of the funds which he alleged were misappropriated from the state by his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi.

Former aviation minister Fani Kayode and spokesperson of Ekiti Governor Ayodele Fayose, Mr. Lere Olayinka also insisted that the apartment where the money was found and the money itself belonged to Amaechi.

The current Minister of Transportation strongly denied the claims.

The loot has also been linked to former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Adamu Mu’azu; senator representing Lagos west, Solomon Adeola; and an ex-managing director of Petroleum Products Pricing and Marketing Company (PPMC), Esther Nnamdi-Obue.

However, no one has claimed ownership of the biggest recovered loot in President Buhari's war against the country's corruption-infested political class.