Andrew Yakubu, former Group Managing Director (GMD), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has sued the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) over alleged refusal to release his $9.8 million dollars after a court judgment.
Yakubu, through his counsel, Ahmed Raji, SAN, filed the suit before Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court, Abuja.
The originating summons, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/231/2023, was dated and filed on March 8, with EFCC, CBN and GTB listed as 1st to 3rd defendants, respectively.
WEWKDAYS Smart News reports that Justice Ahmed Mohammed had, on March 31, 2022, discharged and acquitted ex-NNPC GMD of money laundering charges.
Justice Mohammed held that the EFCC failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, but the anti-corruption agency had appealed against the judgment.
Yakubu, in the suit, asked whether “the court did not become dominus litis of the respective sums of $9,773,200 and £74,000 belonging to” him when same was put in issue, and in evidence before the court in charge number: FHC/ABJ/CR/43/2017 between the Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Engr Andrew Yakubu, and in respect of which judgment was delivered on the 31st of March, 2022.”
He said if the question was answered in the affirmative, he further asked whether the EFCC ought to still have in its custody his seized monies after a sister court gave a judgment in his favour on March 31, 2022.
Yakubu, therefore, asked whether the monies ought not to be released to him forthwith or paid into an account under the control of the registry of the court, pending the outcome of the appeal lodged by the EFCC against the said judgment.
He sought an order directing the defendants to immediately release the monies to him in view of the court judgment.
Alternatively, he sought an order directing them to immediately transfer the said monies into an account under the control of the FHC chief registrar or into an account to be operated by the chief registrar, the EFCC and him, pending the determination of the appeal.
But the EFCC, in a notice of preliminary objection, prayed the court to dismiss Yakubu’s application.
In the motion dated March 20 and filed on April 12 by Faruk Abdullah, the anti-graft agency argued that the suit constituted an abuse of court process.
It said that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
The commission said it also relied on the earlier processes filed before the court, where it raised jurisdictional issues and urged the court to strike out the entire suit.
