By Vivian Okejeme
Abuja
Former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, yesterday prayed Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, to vacate the court order that froze her 16 separate bank accounts.
The May 30, 2017 order, ruled that the bank accounts containing the sum of $5.8million and N3.5 billion be frozen.
When the matter came up for hearing yesterday, counsel to the former first lady, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) and counsel to the federal government, Richard Dauda, dragged whose application should be taken first.
While Dauda said that the federal government application seeking to extend the interim order of forfeiture should be taken, Ozekhome insisted that the applicant’s motion should come first as it is challenging the order obtained by the federal government in error.
Justice Nyako then adjourned the matter till Novermber 23 for hearing.
The former first Lady is contending that the orders of interim forfeiture, including a subsequent one issued on October 10, 2017, have become spent and cannot be extended as the original order was obtained by an improper use of court process by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
She submitted that Incorporated Trustees of Ariwabai Aruera Reachout Foundation, nine other companies and herself were the owners of the sums.
That the Federal High Court in Abuja had on May 30 , 2017 granted an exparte order in favour of the of the federal government against all the accounts own and operated by them the applicants.
That prior to granting of the ex -parte motion by the court in Abuja the federal government had filed a similar application before Justice Olatoregun of Lagos division but failed to disclose the fact that it had obtained same reliefs in Lagos.
