Court strikes out Patience Jonathan’s N2bn suit against EFCC

Court strikes out Patience Jonathan’s N2bn suit against EFCC

The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, declined to stop the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, from investigating the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience.

The court, in a judgment that was delivered by Justice John Tsoho, struck out the fundamental right enforcement suit the former first lady filed to challenge what she termed “incessant harassment” of her family by the anti-graft agency.

Mrs. Jonathan had in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/586/2017, which she filed on June 30, 2017, demanded N2billion from EFCC as general damages/compensation for the violation of her fundamental rights.

She prayed the court to declare that continuous harassment she has suffered in the hands of the EFCC through negative media publications, denigrating and degrading her person as corrupt, without any invitation by the anti-graft agency, trial or conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction, amounted to gross violation of her rights under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution.

She equally wanted, “A declaration that indiscriminate freezing of her bank accounts and those of her relatives by the EFCC under the guise of investigation of proceeds of crime, without any invitation or interrogation by the respondent is a violation of her rights to own property and to fair hearing guaranteed under Sections 44 and 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution.

“A declaration that the invasion, breaking into and ransacking of the applicant’s family property by the agents of the respondent in the absence of the applicant or any member of her family, while purporting to be executing a search warrant is a violation of the applicant’s fundamental human rights to private and family life guaranteed under the provisions of Section 37 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).

As well as, “A declaration that the incessant harassment of the applicant by the respondent on the ground of her political views expressed by reason of her being a member of the opposition party in Nigeria, is a violation of the applicant’s fundamental human right to freedom from discrimination, guaranteed under Section 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended)”.

However, the EFCC, in a 25-paragraphed counter-affidavit it filed on October 25, 2017, urged the court to dismiss the suit which it said constituted an abuse of the judicial process.

The agency said it was investigating how “homongous deposits” were made into bank accounts that were operated by the former first lady and her Non Governmental Organisation, adding that the cash in-flows were from government establishments.

EFCC told the court that it froze the affected accounts upon reasonable suspicion that the funds were proceeds of illicit transactions that involved high-scale money laundering.

In his judgment, Justice Tsoho held that the former first lady was not entitled to any of the reliefs she sought from the court.

Justice Tsoho maintained that the applicant failed to substantiate that her rights were violated in any way by the anti-graft agency.

The court said there was no “strong or irrefutable evidence” that it was the EFCC that raided the home of either Mrs. Jonathan or her relatives.

“As of present, the respondent has stated that its investigation is still in process, hence the applicant’s position is uncertain”.

It held that the law empowered EFCC to take actions for the preservation of alleged proceeds of crime, in public interest, adding that interfering with the right of any citizen to own a property in such circumstance does not amount to denial of fair-hearing.

“I hold that the applicant’s right to hold property and fair-hearing has not been violated”, Justice Tsoho added.

He said there was equally “no verifiable evidence before the court”, to prove that EFCC is attacking Mrs. Jonathan owing to the role she played before the 2015 presidential election.

Justice Tsoho said the law did not establish how long EFCC should take while investigating economic crimes.

“The law does not limit the period of investigation. It is however commendable that the process should take a short period as possible”, the Judge held.

He said the applicant’s claim that she was denied fair-hearing was bound to fail since she has neither been arrested nor officially charged with any offence.

Besides, the court dismissed EFCC’s position that the suit was an abuse of court process, noting that Mrs. Jonathan did not query the powers of the agency to investigate, but the method it employed in doing so.

Mrs. Jonathan had in a 21-paragraph affidavit dated that was deposed to by one Sammie Somiari, told the court that EFCC invaded and sealed-up her property in Abuja that was subject of a suit marked FHC/PH/FHR/17/2017, pending before the Federal High Court Port-Harcourt.

Mrs Jonathan told the court that before her husband joined politics sometime in 1998, she had a private business she was managing.

She said that between 1999 and 2015, while her husband climbed the political ladder from being the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State till he became the President of Nigeria, she continued to run her private businesses even though she was at various times the first lady of Bayelsa State and that of Nigeria.

She said that when her husband was in office as the President, between 2012 and 2013, she had some health challenges that necessitated her going abroad for treatment and later surgeries.

“Because of the challenges of having to travel with substantial cash for her medical treatment and the need not to contravene the Nigerian Law or any other law on money laundering, she sought for opinion of the then Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Lamorde, who advised her to obtain credit cards from her banks.

“It was based on the advice of Lamorde, that Mrs Jonathan invited her banks and informed them of her desire to obtain credit cards.

“That on the 22nd of March, 2013, she opened 5 different accounts in Skye Bank Plc and credit cards were issued in respect of the said accounts.

“On one of her medical trips abroad, her Debit Visa Card with Skye Bank Plc stopped functioning as she could not pay her medical bills with the said card.

“Upon her return to Nigeria, she made enquiries through Skye Bank as to what happened to her Debit Card.

“That her enquiries revealed that it was the Respondent (the EFCC) that placed a No Debit Order on the said account and four others”.

She said the Commission later told her lawyers that the accounts were subject of money laundering investigations.

The applicant told the court that EFCC, in its determined bid to “make life unbearable for her”, applied and secured an order from Justice Binta Nyako of the high court, freezing not only her accounts, but also the ones belonging to her late mother, Mama Sisi Charity Oba.

“The Respondent has demonstrated a pathological dislike for the Applicant as the activities of the operatives of the Respondent overlook the fact that the Applicant was never a political office holder.

“The investigation into the operations of her pet project, NGO when she was first lady is an unprecedented act of animosity against her as none of her project was funded by the government at any level”, the affidavit further read.

She maintained that unless it is restrained by the court, EFCC would continue to harass her, adding that the agency waged a psychological war on her by its incessant threats of arrest of her relations, such as Mrs. Esther Oba, Tamunotonye Oba and her elder brother, Mr. Aseminaso Nyengierefaka.

The Applicant said she was being harassed and persecuted by EFCC because of her political views which she had expressed as a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, during the 2015 Presidential election campaign.