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Court strikes out Omokore’s application to recover forfeited assets

By Melody Fidelis
13 March 2018   |   4:12 am
A Federal High Court in Lagos has struck out a suit filed by Olajide Omokore against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), seeking to recover his forfeited assets.

High Court

A Federal High Court in Lagos has struck out a suit filed by Olajide Omokore against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), seeking to recover his forfeited assets.

Omokore, an associate of the former Petroleum Minister, Deziani Allison Madueke, had filed the suit challenging the temporary forfeiture of the property to the Federal Government.

When the matter was mentioned, Omokore’s counsel, O. Achimiwu, told the court that his client was seeking to discontinue the matter against the EFCC. He did not however, disclose the reason for the request.

Subsequently, the presiding Judge, Mojisola Olatoregun struck out the case.

R. A. Lawal-Rabana (SAN) had filed an affidavit in court on behalf of Omokore, which was sworn to by a legal practitioner, Tosin Samuel Alawode before the court.

He declare that the allegations levied against Omokore and two companies, Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Nigeria Limited and Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited are in relation to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited.

EFCC had alleged vested interest in the firms and a breach of specific terms of the contract agreement as embodied in a strategic Alliance Agreements between the two companies and the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited in respect of eight oil blocks.

Under the agreement, the companies were obliged to render some services to the NPDC and also remit some monies accruing from the services to the Federal Government.

The deponent averred that the contract agreement was on going and being performed until it was alleged that the companies were in default of certain sums of remittances.

On the issue of remittances, he said, parties were already in the process of agreeing on the terms of unremitted payment to resolve the issue, when EFCC waded into the matter and said it was investigating the contract.

He added that it was contrary to the provisions under the SAAs for parties to go to arbitration to resolve their differences.

The deponent further averred that the intervention of EFCC scuttled all effort to resolve the differences amicably.

Subsequently, he was invited by the EFCC, interrogated and thereafter, arraigned before Justice Binta Nyako at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

The deponent also averred that before the companies entered into the agreement, Omokore was already a successful businessman in the oil and gas sector and had acquired assets and properties legitimately.

He added that Omokore acquired all the assets, properties and documents listed before the court, and not from any proceeds of illegality or violation of any law.

The deponent said he had written to the EFCC, through his Solicitors, Aluko and Oyebode, demanding the release of all the items, but the EFCC has failed to respond till date.

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