Former Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele has approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja to overturn an order of a high court granting the government‘s takeover of 753 houses in Abuja.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had obtained a court order to seize the estate.
Emefiele, through his legal representative A.M. Kotoye, contends that he ought to have been involved in the proceedings, as he holds an interest in the property.
He is now seeking the Appeal Court’s reversal of the lower court’s ruling.
“I was unaware of the forfeiture,” Emefiele said.
He told the court that the EFCC published the interim forfeiture notice in an obscure newspaper section, making it difficult to detect.
Additionally, Emefiele explained that he was simultaneously managing three criminal cases in Abuja and Lagos, hindering his ability to notice the publication.
He further accused the EFCC of deliberately concealing the forfeiture case from him, despite their ongoing engagement with him on other charges.
The trial court, however, dismissed his claim, ruling that the EFCC had followed due process and that the newspaper notice was sufficient.
The judge declared that the notice “could not reasonably be described as hidden.”
In the appeal, he argued that the trial court had misconstrued his application and erroneously dismissed it without proper consideration of critical facts, asserting that the orders were founded on “hearsay, suspicion, and no proper evidence.”
Emefiele also maintained that he possessed legal and equitable interests in the estate, despite the court’s assertion that he failed to provide proof of ownership.
“The entire ruling is a miscarriage of justice,” Emefiele declared.
He added, “The failure of the trial judge to properly evaluate the affidavit and documents before him is perverse and has caused a miscarriage of justice.
“The orders were made in breach of the 1999 Constitution and are therefore null and void.”
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