Ebun Francis || An Abuja division of the Federal High Court on Tuesday reversed the order it made on May 30 freezing 16 accounts belonging to Patience Jonathan, the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Justice Binta Nyako withdrew the order on Tuesday on the grounds that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission which secured the freezing order failed to conduct its investigation into the alleged infractions involving the 16 accounts.
The court’s decision followed an application by the counsel to Mrs. Jonathan asking the court to set aside an ex-parte motion filed by the EFCC for continued control of the accounts.
The lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, described EFCC’s motion as an abuse of court process.
Mr. Ozekhome told newsmen that the court had ordered the EFCC to conduct its investigation within 90 days of freezing the accounts in May, but that the commission failed to carry out the said investigation.
“The judge, Justice Binta, had given the EFCC 90 days within which to investigate and prosecute parties involved in the allegations but they never did that. So we asked the court to set aside the interim forfeiture order. The judge set aside the order granted on May 30,” Mr. Ozekhome said.
Mrs Jonathan had made several attempts including going to the National Assembly to have the ban on the accounts lifted before now.