Former First Lady, Patience Jonathan
Former First Lady, Patience Jonathan has filed a N200m fundamental
rights enforcement suit against Skye Bank Plc and the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) following the freezing of her four
bank accounts by the agency which she said has inconvenienced and
embarrassed her.
Patience Jonathan is asking the court to compel the EFCC to immediately vacate the “No Debit Order” placed on her accounts.
According to information revealed the ChannelsTV, the four accounts, lodged with Skye Bank Plc, are in the name of four companies which is said to have a balance of $31.4m.
The four companies are Pluto Property and Investment Company
Limited; Seagate Property Development & Investment Co. Limited;
Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited and Development
Company Limited and Globus Integrated Service Limited.
Filing the suit on behalf of Patience Jonathan before the court and
deposed to by one Sammie Somiari, a legal practitioner, she claims that
the EFCC placed a No Debit Order on the four accounts in July in the
course of probing one Waripamo Dudafa, a former Special Adviser on
Domestic Affairs to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
After its investigations, the EFCC went ahead to file an amended
17-count against Dudafa and seven others, including the four companies,
with the defendants being accused of conspiring to conceal the monies
which the EFCC claimed they ought to have known formed parts of the
proceeds of an unlawful act.
Explaining how trouble started in an affidavit, Sammie Somiari
claims that it was Dudafa who helped Mrs Patience Jonathan to open the
four bank accounts which the EFCC froze.
He revealed that Dudafa had on March 22, 2010 brought two Skye Bank
officers, Demola Bolodeoku and Dipo Oshodi, to meet the former first
lady at home to open five accounts.
He, however, claimed that after the five accounts were opened, Mrs
Patience Jonathan later discovered that Dudafa opened only one of the
accounts in her name while the other four were opened in the names of
companies belonging to Dudafa.
Somiari added “that Mrs Jonathan complained about this to
Honourable Dudafa, who at her prompting and instance promised to effect
the change of the said accounts to the applicant’s name; and to effect
this change, Honourable Dudafa brought the said bank manager, Mr. Dipo
Oshodi, who claimed to have effected the changes. This was about April
2014.
“The bank official, Mr. Dipo Oshodi, as it would appear did not
effect or reflect the instruction of the applicant to change the said
accounts to her name(s) despite repeated requests."
The deponent also claims that Mrs Patience Jonathan who is said to
be away for an urgent medical treatment abroad, is the sole signatory to
the accounts as the money belongs to her.
The affidavit also said that the ATM credit cards bearing the said
companies’ names were brought to Mrs Jonathan by the bank manager who
promised to replace them once the cards bearing the changed names were
available, but he never did.
“However, since 2010 up until 2014 and thereafter, Mrs Jonathan had
been using the cards on the said accounts and operating the said
accounts without let or hindrance. Even in May, June and July 2016, the
former First Lady traveled overseas for medical treatment and was using
the said credit cards abroad up until July 7, 2016 or thereabouts when
the cards stopped functioning.”
In her fundamental rights action before the court, the wife of the
former President is asking the court to compel the EFCC to immediately
vacate the “No Debit Order” placed on her accounts.
She also says the action of the EFCC without a court order or prior
notice to her is illegal, overbearing and constitutes a breach of her
fundamental rights as enshrined in Section 33, 34, 35 & 36 of the
1999 Constitution.
She wants the court to order Skye Bank to pay her damages in the
sum of N200m for what she termed a violation of her right to own
personal property under Section 44 of the Constitution.
The EFCC on its part is set to arraign the former Presdent’s aide,
Dudafa and his alleged accomplices for money laundering before a Federal
High Court in Lagos.
The case will be heard on Thursday, Sept 15.
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