The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been given permission to temporarily seize 40 properties traced to Ike Ekweremadu by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
On Friday, after listening to an ex-parte application filed by the EFCC, the judge, Inyang Ekwo, handed down the interim forfeiture order for Ekweremadu's properties.
Ibrahim Buba a lawyer with the EFCC, moved the application for the confiscation of the assets, saying they were suspicious proceeds of crime.
The EFCC contended that the properties were allegedly obtained with proceeds of fraud.
The lawyer told the judge that the landed properties comprise 15 in Abuja, 10 in Enugu (Mr Ekweremadu’s home state), one in Lagos, two in the United Kingdom, three in the United States, and nine in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In his ruling, Mr Ekwo granted the application and ordered the EFCC to, within seven days from the date of the order, publish the interim forfeiture order of the assets in a national daily.
This is to create an opportunity for whoever has interest in the assets to approach the court and convince the court not to issue an order of permanent forfeiture to the federal government.
Ike Ekweremadu, a former Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, is currently being held in the United Kingdom for allegedly trying to harvest David Nwamini’s kidney for his daughter, Sonia, who has being diagnosed with rare kidney disease.
This should be replicated to all holding public office
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