The Federal High Court in Abuja has set aside the interim order to confiscate 40 properties belonging to the former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu to the federal government.
Justice Inyang Ekwo quashed the order on Friday for failing to disclose important information to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), particularly regarding Ekweremadu’s arrest in the United Kingdom.
Justice Ekwo accepted the argument of Ekweremadu’s lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), that his client’s detention would not allow him to defend himself.
The EFCC had on November 4, 2022, obtained an order from the court for the interim forfeiture of the said properties as proceeds of corruption.
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But Ekweremadu in a petition filed by Awomolo on December 15, 2022, said it was because the anti-corruption agency did not disclose its objections to the Uxbridge Magistrates Court in the United Kingdom, where he is being remanded on allegations of human trafficking.
The senator was accused of trafficking one David Ukpo for the purposes of harvesting his kidney for his (Ekweremadu’s) daughter’s much-needed transplant.
Specifically, Ekweremadu alleged that the EFCC fraudulently obtained the forfeiture order for the government by concealing information that the investigation on the 40 properties started as far back as 2008.
