Abuja: The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, ordered the permanent forfeiture of 49,700. Dollars allegedly recovered from Dr Nura Ali, former Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for Sokoto State in the 2023 general elections.
Justice Emeka Nwite gave the order after Osuobeni Akponimisingha, counsel to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), moved a motion to the effect.
Akponimisingha, while moving the application, told the court that the ICPC had complied with the earlier interim order directing the temporary forfeiture of the money.
The lawyer said a publication was made for interested person(s) to show cause why the recovered funds should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government, as directed by the court.
He, however, said that no interested person had appeared since publication, and that none was represented in court today.
“We, therefore, seek an order forfeiting the sum of $49 700 US dollars to the Federal Government in view of the processes filed in respect of this matter from interim forfeiture to this stage, my lord,” he said.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Nwite held that the application by the lawyer was meritorious.
“I have listened to the submission of the learner council to the applicant, and I have also gone through the affidavit evidence.
“I am of the view that the application is meritorious. Consequently, the application is granted,” the judge ruled.
Justice Nwite had, on Dec. 30, 2024, ordered the temporary forfeiture of the seized funds after the lawyer moved the ex parte motion.
While the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) was the applicant, Ali was the sole respondent in the ex parte motion marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1846/2024.
The motion, dated Dec. 20, 2024 and filed Dec. 24, 2024, was jointly filed by the ICPC and the Department of State Service (DSS).
Mr Usman Dauda, the Director of Legal, signed the application on DSS’s behalf, and Akponimisingha, Assistant Chief Legal Officer in ICPC, was part of the legal team that drafted the process.
The motion sought an order of the court temporarily forfeiting the sum of $49,700.00 (forty-nine thousand, seven hundred dollars), “recovered from one Dr Nura Ali during a search operation by the Federal Government of Nigeria, being property suspected to be proceeds of an unlawful activity.”
It also sought an order directing the applicant, i.e., the FRN, through the ICPC and the DSS, to jointly conduct a thorough preliminary investigation into the alleged unlawful activities of Ali in respect of the moveable property sought to be forfeited, and to make a report to the court within 90 days.
It sought an order directing the applicant, i.e., FRN, through the ICPC and the DSS, to deposit the sum of 49,700.00 dollars into an escrow account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The application also sought an order directing the applicant to publish a notice in any national newspaper calling on persons, whether human, juristic, or artificial, having an Interest in the money, to show cause why it should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
Giving nine grounds for granting the application, the applicant said the victim of the alleged crime was the Federal Government of Nigeria and innocent taxpayers, including judges of courts across the country.
It said the money was recovered during a DSS search operation at Ali’s residence.
“The alleged movable property of $49,700.00 was bribe money received by Dr Nura Ali when he was the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner for Sokoto State.
“The alleged movable property is not the legitimate earnings of Dr Ali as an independent National Electoral Commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner.
“The alleged movable property is suspected to be proceeds of crime,” it said.
The applicant argued that INEC does not pay its staff members with United States dollars as salaries or allowances.
It said the essence of the application was not to acquire the alleged movable property from the alleged owner compulsorily, but to preserve the property from dissipation.
It said that if the court grants the reliefs sought, interested persons, including the alleged owner, will be allowed to explain as to the legitimacy of the alleged property.
“Where a cogent and verifiable explanation exists as to how the property was acquired, devoid of crime, the alleged owner or any other person having a proprietary interest in the property will be allowed unrestricted possession of the property.
“This application is not in conflict with the provisions of Sections 43 and 44 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantee the rights of citizens of Nigeria to acquire and own immovable and movable properties in any part of Nigeria,” it said.
It would be recalled that Akponimisingha, who appeared for the FRN, had told the court that the ex parte motion prayed for four orders.
The lawyer said four exhibits were attached to the motion, including DSS 1 through DSS 4. He urged the court to grant the application in the interest of justice.
He said a search was conducted at Ali’s residence in Kano, and the sum of 49,700,000 US dollars was recovered from the building.
He told the court that Ali allegedly said that the sum of $150 000 US dollars was given to him by the former Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, and Sen. Aliyu Wamakko.
The ICPC lawyer, who alleged that Ali made this disclosure in his extrajudicial statement to the DSS, said the former REC also wrote a letter to the security outfit in an attempt to reclaim the money.
He insisted that INEC does not pay his workers or RECs in dollars. Also in the affidavit in support of the motion ex parte, Iliya Markus, a litigation officer with ICPC, deposed that Akponimisingha informed him that he had read through the case file and comprehended facts forming the allegations leading to the execution of the search warrant by operatives of the DSS at Ali’s residence.
Markus said the DSS received an intelligence report on Dr Ali, alleging bribery by stakeholders, i.e., politicians, in the course of his official duties as INEC REC in charge of Sokoto State.
He said the intelligence report was processed, and the residence of Ali in Kano was searched pursuant to a search warrant executed jointly by operatives of the ICPC and DSS.
“A copy of the search warrant is hereby attached and marked as exhibit DSS 1,” he said.
The officer said that during the execution of the search warrant, $47,000.00 was recovered from the house.
According to him, Dr Ali also made a statement(s) regarding the search of his residence and the subsequent recovery of the alleged $49,700.00.
“A copy of the said extrajudicial statement is hereby attached and marked as exhibit DSS 2,” he said.
He said invitation letters had been written to invite persons he claimed had gifted him the alleged $49,700.00.
“I also know as a fact that Dr Nura Ali did not report the gift of the alleged $49,700.00 to any law enforcement agency as required by extant laws of the land.
“Dr Ali had in the past written letters to the State Security Services requesting the release of the alleged $49,700.00 bribe money to him.
“Copies of the said letters are hereby attached and marked as exhibits DSS 3 & 4 respectively,” he said.
Markus said the investigation was yet to be concluded, hence the need for the 90-day application.
Justice Nwite, who said that the application was meritorious, granted the prayers then.
The judge adjourned the matter until Jan. 30, 2025, for the report on compliance with the media publication, and until Mar. 31, 2025, for the hearing.
