The wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience Jonathan has reportedly recovered her N2 billion hotel which was sealed off by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in June.
The EFCC had placed the red inscriptions, ‘EFCC Under Investigation’ all over the hotel which is located near Setraco Construction Company, off the Mabushi Kado Expressway.
However, in a report by Punch, the five-storey building with the EFCC inscriptions had been covered with patches of grey paint.
When asked, the security men said they acted on the instruction of Mrs Jonathan.
One of them said, “Go and ask the EFCC if they had the right to put their sign all over the building in the first place. If you want more information, go and ask madam.”
The spokesman for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, said he did not know much about the seizure of the building and thus could not say if it had been returned to Patience or not.
He said, “I have spoken to the appropriate people but I was not able to get any answer on the matter.”
In his reaction, Mrs Jonathan’s lawyer, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), said he was not aware of the seizure of the property.
Adedipe said if the hotel in question was indeed seized through a court order, then the removal of the EFCC inscriptions would be of no effect.
He, however, boasted that all properties and funds seized from the former first lady would be returned to her soon.
Adedipe said, “I am not aware of the seizure of property. If the EFCC seal was removed from the property, let them go and put another one. In any case, we have sued the EFCC for abuse of her human rights and human dignity. The matter is pending before the Federal High Court in Abuja and everything has been included in that suit.
“We are challenging all the seizures because without prejudice to our case, Mrs Jonathan was neither a public officer nor a contractor. So, the idea of harassing her beats my imagination.
“I don’t see the basis for the EFCC’s harassment of that woman and the case wears a political toga because she was a formidable element during the campaign.”
Mrs Jonathan had in May 2016, laid claim to about $15 million found in bank accounts allegedly belonging to a former Special Adviser to the President on Domestic Affairs, Waripamowei Dudafa.
She subsequently sued Skye Bank Plc and the EFCC. The commission then went ahead to freeze her personal account with a balance of $5 million.
The anti-graft agency had also frozen bank accounts belonging to her relatives and friends including business mogul, Bola Shagaya.
Her husband, Goodluck Jonathan, had complained about the harassment of his wife by the commission while Patience had also written a petition to the House of Representatives asking the lawmakers to caution the EFCC and stop harassing her and her relatives.
