One of the three persons, standing trial before Justice Kayode Oyewole of an Ikeja high court over allegation of defrauding a Brazillian and his bank a whopping sum of N36.3 billion naira Amaka Anajemba has asked a Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja to void an exparte order issued by a Federal High Court, Abuja, confiscating all her assets.
The legal move was initiated on her behalf by Chief Chris Uche (SAN).
The request followed the refusal of the Federal high court which gave the order to discharge it.
The outcome of the legal move will however affect two other accused persons whose assets, moveable and immoveable, were also confiscated on the order of the high court judge, Justice I Chikere.
The two others are a former bank director, Chief Emmanuel Nwude and Chief Nzeribe Edeh Okoli.
All of them are at present remanded in Kirikiri prisons, Lagos.
The trio, it would be recalled, were accused of fraudulently obtaining a sum of $242 million dollars from one Nelson Sakaguhei and Stanton Development Corporation being the property of Banco Noroeste S A of Sao Paulo Brazil purporting same to represent payment to the Federal Government for the construction of Abuja International Airport.
In the notice of appeal lodged at the registry of the Court of Appeal last Friday by Chief Chris Uche, Anajemba is contesting the legality of the exparte order granted by Justice Chikere of the Federal high court, Abuja confiscating all her assets and her co-accused persons on seven grounds.
According to her, the trial judge erred in law to have granted such an exparte order when the substantive case, at the time the order was granted, was before another judge in the high court of the Federal Capital Territory.
Besides, Chief Uche, in the notice of appeal, was contending that the trial judge also erred in law to have declined to vacate the controversial order, three months after an Abuja high court, seized of all the facts and trying all the accused persons in the case had handed off the suit on the grounds that it lacked territorial jurisdiction.
Also canvassed as a veritable reason to ground the vacation of the controversial exparte was that nothing stopped the trial judge to put the accused persons on notice before granting such an order in the interest of fair hearing and natural justice.
Uche added that even if the trial judge was not aware that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had forum shopped at the time it granted the order in its favour, he was of the opinion that now that it had realized, the order ought to have been vacated.The EFCC had, during the pendency of the suit, procured an exparte application freezing the assets of the accused persons in the matter.
The exparte order almost set both the chief judge of the Abuja high court, Justice Lawal Gummi and Justice Chikere of the Federal high court, Abuja on a collision course.
Justice Gummi had vowed that he would report Justice (Mrs) A I Chikere who granted the order to her boss formally.
According to Justice Gummi, it was wrong of the Federal high court judge, Justice Chikere to have assumed jurisdiction on an aspect of a criminal matter which was before him.The Chief Judge of Abuja high court also expressed revulsion at what the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, Alhaji Nuhu Ribadu did by approaching the Federal high court for such a relief when the substantive matter was still pending before him.
He had then argued that the implication of his action, approaching a court of coordinate jurisdiction for a relief on an aspect of a case before him amounted to saying that he had no faith getting justice in his court.
Said the judge: ““ notwithstanding, I will take the matter up administratively with the Chief Judge of the Federal high court, Justice Roseline Ukeje. I will write formally to her over the matter.””
But Justice Gummi did not expatiate further on what he would do.
EFCC on Wednesday May 26, obtained the controversial order from the Federal High Court freezing the banks’’ accounts of Chief Emmanuel Nwude, Amaka Anajemba and Nzeribe Edeh Okoli three suspects charged with defrauding a Brazilian Bank to the tune of USD 242 million.
EFCC allegedly acted on information that some of the suspects were making clandestine moves to dispose of their properties because they are likely to forfeit the properties to the state in the event that they were found guilty.
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