The Federal High Court, sitting in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital, on Tuesday trashed an Appeal filed before it by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on the judgment delivered on December 13, 2016 ordering the agency to defreeze Fayose’s bank accounts.
The anti-graft agency had on June 21, 2016 frozen the governor’s two accounts with Zenith Bank, claiming that they were proceeds of the arms funds allegedly shared by former National Security Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dansuki.
Fayose challenged the legality of the anti-graft’s seizure of his funds and attempt to investigate him while he remains a sitting governor the same month.
Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the court, on December 13, 2016 ruled against the EFCC on grounds that their actions contradicts Section 308 of the Nigerian Constitution as amended in 1999 which provides a sitting governor with immunity.
Taiwo ordered the agency to un-freeze the governor’s accounts with immediate effect.
The governor then made withdrawal of N5 million out of his money from the accounts two days after the ruling.
EFCC’s lead counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, filed a motion for stay of execution of the court’s ruling of December 13, 2016 to among other reasons, allow the EFCC preserve the funds in the accounts.
Justice Taiwo of the Ekiti Federal High Court while dismissing the EFCC’s appeal on Tuesday, said the motion was made in bad faith.
He said, “Court is functus officio, the EFCC application was instituted in bad faith, the initial suppression of facts brought in judgment of other Courts on the issue, no prove of facts that Appeal have been entered, proceed of crime not a subject matter in the substantive suit, the matter was not instituted as a criminal suit, court cannot go on voyage of discovery to Fitch for fact to grant equitable remedy when the Respondent averted that he has defendants and ready to refund the money if found liable at trial after his tenure. 8. Cannot stay a judgment already executed and the whole exercise in freezing the governor’s accounts amounts to breach of the provisions of Section 308, 1999 CFRN (amended).”
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