The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has frozen over
N126billion in the accounts of some suspects in order not to jeopardize
investigations, the agency said yesterday.
More than 120 bank accounts are affected by the freeze order.
About N126,563,481,095.43 was temporarily seized by the EFCC pending the conclusion of corruption-related cases.
Other cash and assets under Interim Forfeiture is $9,090,243,920.15, seized from suspects facing trial or under investigation.
Apart from freezing of N32.8 billion
from six suspects implicated in the Police Pension Office, some high
profile suspects with accounts among the over 120 frozen include
ex-Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke,
ex-National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), ex-Chief
of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh; ex- Chiefs of Air Staff
Air Marshals Adesola Amosu and Mohammed Dikko Umar; Robert Azibaola(
ex-President Jonathan’s cousin) and ex-Minister of Aviation Femi
Fani-Kayode, among others.
The action of the EFCC has generated criticisms, with most suspects claiming that the freeze was prejudicial.
But the Head of Media and Publicity of
EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, in a statement, said the anti-graft agency
was not being vindictive.
The statement said: “In recent times, a
lot of interest has been generated by the action of the Commission in
freezing the accounts of suspects that were investigated or are
currently being investigated. Some commentators have tended to ascribe
vindictive motives to this action
“In order to prevent misinformation, it is imperative to explain the reason behind the Commission’s actions in this regard.
“Freezing of accounts suspected of being
used for commission of financial crimes is a mandatory investigative
step backed by law. Indeed, Section 34 (1) of the EFCC Act 2004 empowers
the Commission to freeze any account suspected of being used for
financial crimes.
The section stipulates that “the
Chairman of the Commission or any officer authorised by him may, if
satisfied that the money in the account of a person is made through the
commission of an offence under this Act or any enactment specified under
Section 6(2) (a)-(f) of this Act, apply to the court ex-parte for power to issue or instruct a bank examiner or such other appropriate authority to freeze the account”.
“Similar provision in the Money
Laundering Prohibition Act 2012 (as amended) also empowers the EFCC
Chairman or his representatives to place a stop order on any account or
transaction suspected to be involved in any crime.
“The intendment of these provisions is
to ensure that the Commission safeguards suspected proceeds of crime
pending the completion of its investigation. It is without prejudice to
the social standing of the holder of such accounts or whether they are
individual, corporate or government accounts.
“Freezing orders are incidental to investigation and doing otherwise will jeopardise the prospects of recovering stolen assets.”
Credit: Nation
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