The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the permanent forfeiture of 49,700 dollars allegedly recovered from Nura Ali, former Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for Sokoto State in the 2023 general elections.
Justice Emeka Nwite gave the order after Osuobeni Akponimisingha, counsel to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), moved a motion to that effect.
Akponimisingha, while moving the application, told the court that the ICPC had complied with the earlier interim order made by the court for temporary forfeiture of the money.
The lawyer said a publication was made for interested person(s) to show cause why the recovered funds should not be forfeited permanently to the Federal Government as directed by the court.
He, however, said that no interested person had shown up since the day of the publication, and neither was any interested person represented in court today.
“We, therefore, seek an order forfeiting the sum of $49,700 US dollars to the Federal Government in view of the processes filed in respect of this matter from interim forfeiture to this stage, my lord,” he said.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Nwite held that the application by the lawyer was meritorious.
According to reports Justice Nwite had, on Dec. 30, 2024, ordered the temporary forfeiture of the seized funds, after the lawyer moved the ex-parte motion.
While the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) was the applicant, Ali was the sole respondent in the motion ex parte marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1846/2024.
The motion, dated Dec. 20, 2024, and filed Dec. 24, 2024, was jointly filed by the ICPC and the Department of State Service (DSS).
Usman Dauda, the Director of Legal, signed the application on DSS’ behalf, and Akponimisingha, Assistant Chief Legal Officer in ICPC, was part of the legal team that draughted the process.
The motion sought an order of the court temporarily forfeiting the sum of $49,700.00 (forty-nine thousand, seven hundred dollars), “recovered from one Dr Nura Ali during a search operation by the Federal Government of Nigeria, being property suspected to be the proceeds of an unlawful activity.”
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