EFCC loses case as Court sets aside order freezing Fayose’s accounts in Zenith Bank

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has lost its grip on Ekiti state Governor,  Ayo Fayose as a Federal High court sitting in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday set aside an earlier order of a Federal High court, Lagos empowering the Commission to freeze Fayose’s two accounts.

The accounts of the governor were frozen on June 21,2016 saying the money found in the two accounts was suspected to be proceeds of crime, but the governor took the agency and the bank to court on June 26, 2016.

The presiding Justice Taiwo Taiwo who gave the order while delivering a judgment which lasted more than two hours, in a suit filed by the governor, through his counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome said the rights of the governor had been unconstitutionally infringed upon, considering the circumstance of his office .

The court which ordered the EFCC to immediately defreeze the two accounts belonging to the governor without further delay, on the account that the anti-graft agency did not follow due process declared that apart from the immunity which Mr Fayose currently enjoyed as a sitting governor under section 308 of the constitution, added that “it was wrong for the EFCC to have gone ahead to seize his two accounts in apparent perpetuity without first investigating him or making him a party”.

Justice Taiwo averred that rather than the EFCC freezing the governor’s accounts directly through the third party who did not enjoy any mandate from him, to the governor himself ought to have been first investigated and brought into the picture.

He described Fayose as “a genuinely deprived person who rushed to the court to seek constitutional protection”, adding that it was also the duty of any presiding judge to protect the said constitution and its interpretations whenever the need arises.

“The Plaintiff is entitled to be heard before his property or money can be seized, doing otherwise will amount to denying him fair hearing and constitutional rights”, he said.

The judge however refused to grant other relief sought by the governor, including a perpetual injunction restraining EFCC or its agents from further tampering with his property, and another one asking for payment of N5billion as exemplary damages.

“This court will not shield any person from due investigation. Since Police cannot be stopped from investigating a crime, same goes for the First Respondent so as not to whittle down its functions”, the judge said.

EFCC lead counsel, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo was absent at the court but Fayose’s lead counsel, Ozekhome ,in his reaction described the judgment as the best to be  so made the EFCC in history, saying it would checkmate the agency against years of brazen arbitrariness and excesses.