Bayelsa drags EFCC to court over Alamieyesiegha loot

Bayelsa State Government has asked an
Abuja Federal High Court to order the
Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission to immediately remit to it
the N1.4bn, and another $1.3m
recovered from a former governor of
the state, Diepreye Alamieyesiegha.
The suit was filed by one Mr. George
Uboh, the Chief Executive of Panic Alert
Security System, who said he was acting
with the mandate of the Bayelsa State
Government.
Uboh said in line with the said mandate,
he wrote to the EFCC requesting that
the funds be remitted within seven
days.
He added that, in response to the
letter, he met with officials of the EFCC
on December 19, 2013, after which the
commission assured that the remittance
would be made within a short time.
Uboh further explained that, following
the EFCC's failure to remit the funds as
promised, the Bayelsa State
Government had instructed that a suit
be filed against the anti-graft agency in
a bid to recover the money.
In a writ of summons issued at the
Abuja FHC against EFCC and its
Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, the
plaintiff alleged that the commission
was trading with the seized funds.
The plaintiff in the writ of summons
asked the court to declare that the
failure of the EFCC to remit the
complete funds recovered from
Alamieyesiegha and "subsequently
trading with the funds by way of funds
placement/fixed deposits is an act of
corruption and an economic crime
contrary to sections 6 and 7 of the EFCC
(Establishment) Act, 2004."
In the suit, the plaintiff's counsel, Mr.
Anthony Agbonlahor, also asked the
court to order the EFCC to immediately
remit the funds with the interest.
The plaintiff asked the court to, "direct
EFCC to pay to it $400,000.00 being the
amount forfeited by its former governor
and which funds had since been
repatriated by the United States
Government to the EFCC."
Bayelsa State Government also wants
the court to order EFCC to pay 21 per
cent interest on the N1.4bn and the
$1.3m from November 1, 2013, until
the final determination of the matter.
The plaintiff equally asked the court to
declare that the EFCC chairman should
not have allowed the looted funds
recovered from Alamieyesiegha to be
traded with.
Furthermore, the plaintiff asked the
court to declare that Lamorde had
violated his oath of office, and was
therefore not qualified to continue in
office as EFCC chairman.
A hearing date is yet to be fixed for the
case, which has been assigned to Court
Six of the Abuja FHC.