The Lagos Court of Appeal has overturned a Federal High Court decision that nullified an interim forfeiture order granted to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) concerning 14 properties linked to former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello.
Justice Yargata Nimpar, delivering the lead judgment virtually, ruled that the lower court erred by dismissing the case based solely on the constitutional immunity afforded to a sitting governor under Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution.
The appellate panel, which included Justices Danlami Senchi and Paul Bassi, reinstated the interim preservation order and directed that the EFCC’s application for final forfeiture proceed to a full hearing.
The EFCC initially obtained the ex parte order from the Federal High Court in Lagos to temporarily seize properties located in Lagos, Abuja, and Dubai, suspected to be proceeds of crime.
After the order was published to allow challenges, Bello’s legal team sought to vacate it, arguing that the properties were acquired before his tenure, that immunity protected him from legal proceedings while in office, that the Proceeds of Crime Act could not be applied retroactively, and that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction due to the locations of the properties and an injunction issued by a Kogi State court.
EFCC counsel contended that Section 308 does not protect assets suspected of being proceeds of crime and emphasized that the case targeted the properties, not Bello personally.
They highlighted luxury assets under investigation, including a high-value apartment in Dubai’s Burj Khalifa and funds amounting to N400 million.
The Appeal Court held that the trial court wrongly declined jurisdiction, clarifying that constitutional immunity shields a sitting governor from personal prosecution but does not prevent courts from issuing orders to preserve assets suspected of unlawful origins.
The court dismissed Bello’s objections and ordered the forfeiture case to be heard on its substantive merits.
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