The anti-graft agency is allegedly withholding the sizable sum in defiance of an active court order.
On November 1, Andrew Yakubu, a former group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), will learn the outcome of his legal battle to have the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) release $9.8 million in cash that has been impounded at his Kaduna home since 2017.
The anti-graft agency is allegedly withholding the sizable sum in defiance of an active court order.
Justice Inyang Ekwo set November 1 as the date for her decision in the lawsuit about the money seizure at the final hearing of his legal battle against the EFCC.
After being cleared of all accusations of money laundering brought against him by the anti-graft agency by a high court in Abuja, Yakubu sued the EFCC, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and a commercial bank for their failure to release the money.
The EFCC uncovered $9, 772, 800 (9.7 million dollars) and £74, 000 in a flat related to Yakubu in 2017, and a Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed the money laundering accusations against him on March 31, 2022.
The EFCC had requested that Yakubu be found guilty of a money laundering charge and that the funds be forfeited to the Federal Government.
However, Ahmed Raji, the defence attorney for Yakubu, objected to the trial on the grounds that the funds discovered in Yakubu’s home were gifts from friends and acquaintances.
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Justice Mohammed had ruled in favour of the defendant’s arguments, cleared him of all charges, and ordered that the EFCC release the defendant’s money.
However, Yakubu’s attorney went back to court and claimed that the money had not been released as the court had ordered.
He requested that the money be released by way of an originating summons, or alternatively that it be lodged with the Federal High Court Registrar until the outcome of the case.
But the EFCC objected to the application, claiming that appeals had been filed against the Federal High Court’s ruling before the Court of Appeal in Abuja, through its attorney Faruk Abdullah.
Justice Ekwo set November 1 for a decision on whether to order the EFCC to release the money after hearing arguments from parties involved in the day’s proceedings.
