Court vacates interim forfeiture order on Nwaoboshi’s assets

A federal high court in Abuja has dismissed its earlier interim forfeiture order on the assets of Peter Nwaoboshi, senator representing Delta north.

The Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP) under the leadership of Okoi Obono-Obla had had sealed up some of Nwaoboshi’s properties.

The court had also placed a post-no-debit order on 22 bank accounts linked to Nwaoboshi.

But in a motion which Robert Clarke, his counsel, filed on his behalf, Nwaoboshi urged the court to set aside the ruling.

He also challenged the court’s jurisdiction to grant audience to the SPIP in relation to his assets.

Delivering judgement on Monday, Taiwo Taiwo, the presiding judge, set aside the earlier order of forfeiture of the senator’s assets.

In June, Nwaoboshi was referred to the office of the department of public prosecutions, ministry of justice by the panel for allegedly making false assets declaration in his form CCB1 submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau.

Obono-Obla was recently suspended by President Muhammadu Buhari over investigations by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

He was accused of abuse of office, abuse of power and carrying out a series of illegalities.

According to the first ruling, 14 properties and 22 bank accounts linked to the senator were to be temporarily forfeited to the federal government.

Aside from sealing up the properties, the panel also wrote to several banks including Zenith International Bank Plc; United Bank of Africa; Sterling Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc to block Nwaoboshi from “operating multiple accounts maintained by him in these banks” pursuant to the order of the interim forfeiture given by the court.