The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the temporary freezing of four Jaiz Bank accounts allegedly linked to the immediate past Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari.
Justice Emeka Nwite issued the order on Tuesday following an ex-parte motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Counsel for the EFCC, Ogechi Ujam, told the court that the Commission was still investigating the matter and needed more time to conclude its probe.
In his ruling, Justice Nwite said: “I have listened to counsel to the applicant and gone through the affidavit evidence with the exhibits and written address attached. I find that this application is meritorious, and it is hereby granted as prayed.”
The judge adjourned the matter till September 23 for a report.
The EFCC, in the motion marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1641 and filed on August 11, sought the freezing of the accounts, arguing that they were linked to Kyari, who is under investigation for conspiracy, abuse of office, and money laundering.
The affected accounts include: Jaiz Bank Account No. 0017922724 (Mele Kyari), Jaiz Bank Account No. 0018575055 (Guwori Community Development Foundation) and Jaiz Bank Account No. 0018575141 (Guwori Community Development Foundation Flood Relief)
The anti-graft agency alleged that preliminary findings showed the accounts were used to launder proceeds of unlawful activities under the guise of contract facilitation.
“That there is need to preserve the funds in the identified bank accounts pending the conclusion of investigation and possible prosecution,” it said.
Meanwhile, in the affidavit supporting the motion, Amin Abdullahi, an EFCC investigator with the Special Investigation (SIS) Unit, stated that the agency received a petition dated April 24 from the Guardian of Democracy and Rule of Law against Kyari.
He stated that he was part of the team assigned to investigate the matter and further added: “Upon receipt of the petition referred to in Paragraph 4 above, my team carried out several investigation activities, which included seeking and obtaining bank records from commercial banks.”
Abdullahi said the investigation so far carried out revealed that “N661,464,601.50, which is suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities, was warehoused in four different accounts.
“That these funds were traced to the suspect, Mele Kolo Kyari, who is the former Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). That the suspect opened various accounts in Jaiz Bank which have been used to receive suspicious inflows from NNPC and various oil companies that have dealings with NNPC.
“That bank records revealed that these accounts are controlled and managed by Mr. Kyari through his family members who are acting as fronts.
“Further investigation revealed that the said transactions in the various accounts were disguised as payments for a purported book launch and activities of a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
“That the Commission has written to Jaiz Bank, where the accounts referred to are domiciled, for the hard copies of the comprehensive account details. While responses of the bank are being awaited, the Commission has written to post a no-debit instruction on the accounts, which will only last for 72 hours.
“That I was informed by M.A. Babatunde, Esq., learned counsel to the applicant during official briefing at EFCC Headquarters, and I verily believe him, that an order of this honourable court is necessary to freeze the said accounts clearly described in Schedule 1 to the motion paper while investigation is ongoing.”
“That it is in the interest of justice to grant this application,” the EFCC stated in the affidavit.
Sahara Reporters
