Skip to main content

Court Orders Interim Forfeiture of NDDC Director, Tuoyo Omatsuli’s N1.8bn Properties

                                 Image result for Tuoyo Omatsuli
Justice Chuka A. Obiozor of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Thursday, May 17, 2018, ordered a temporary forfeiture of some properties worth N1.8bn allegedly belonging to Tuoyo Omatsuli, Executive Director, Projects, Niger Delta Development Commission, NNDC, to the Federal Government.
Justice Obiozor gave the order following an ex-parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Counsel to the applicant, Ekele Iheanacho, in the application, prayed the court for the forfeiture of these properties belonging to Omatsuli: Block 117, Plot 4, Lekki Peninsula Scheme, TPAO 992, Ikate Ancient City, Eti-Osa L.G.A, Lagos, measuring 1804.089Sqm and Plots 1-18, Block 43, TPAO 992, Ikate Ancient City, Lekki Peninsula, Eti-Osa, Lagos, measuring 10,000Sqm.
Others are: Plot 1b, Northern Business District, Lekki Peninsula Scheme 1, measuring 1000Sqm and Plot 1, Block 25, Lekki Peninsula Residential Scheme 1, Eti-Osa L.G.A, measuring 2989.10Sqm.
Moving the application today, Iheanacho also referred to paragraph four of the affidavit, detailing how a contractor with the NDDC, Starline Consultancy Services Limited, was paid the sum of N10, 218, 019, 060.59) (Ten Billion, Two Hundred and Eighteen Million, Nineteen Thousand and Sixty Naira) as consultancy fee for levies collected from oil processing companies in the Niger Delta Region.
He further said that out of the money paid to Starline, a sum of N3, 645, 000. 00 (Three Billion, Six Hundred and Forty- five Thousand Naira) was paid as kickback to Omatsuli through a company named Building Associates Limited.
“Some of the funds were used by Building Associates to buy properties in the name of a company, Don Parker Properties Limited, where Omatsuli had majority shareholding,” he added.
Iheanacho also told the court that one Francis Momoh, who is described as the majority shareholder in Building Associates Limited, was introduced as a shareholder in Don Parker Properties Limited so as to disguise the nature of the crime.
After hearing the submissions as well as the application, Justice Obiozor granted all the reliefs sought by the applicant and ordered the forfeiture of the properties to the Federal Government.
The judge further directed the Commission to publish the order in any national newspaper within 14 days, notifying the respondents or anyone interested in the properties to appear before the court and show cause why the properties should not be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Justice Obiozor adjourned the case to June 19, 2018.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Man Sentenced To 1 Year Imprisonment For Breaching Official Trust

Justice A Wuse Zone 2 Magistrates’ Court, Abuja on Tuesday, sentenced a 33-year-old civil servant, Aminu Maru, to one year imprison  for breach of official trust. The convict, who resides in Janyan house, opposite Gwagwalada Park, Area 1, Abuja,however, pleaded guilty to the one count charge of breach of official trust.and begged for mercy. The Magistrate, Mr Raphael Egbe, in his judgement said the court relied on the provision of section 99 B of the penal code to sentence the convict. Egbe, who told the convict to be of good behaviour so as not to go back to crime, however, gave him an option of N100, 000. The prosecutor, Mr Jamil Hamisu, had told the court that investigations by the State Security Service (SSS) revealed that Maru committed the offence between Nov. 15 and Nov. 21, 2017. Hamisu said that the convict was an accountant attached to the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) but seconded to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON)....
Post a Comment
Read more

Again, EFCC Arrests Internet Fraudsters

                                       The Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, has arrested three suspected internet fraudsters, at No 24, 1st Avenue, Fort Royal Estate, Airport road, Abuja. The suspects are; Marvin Nwankwo, Prince Ojenike and Jude Olatekobowale. They created a Facebook account with the following names: Rodney David; David Rodgers and Carlos David, respectively. Their arrest was based on intelligence report that the suspects turned the said residence as their office, using laptops, phone and other gadgets to defraud innocent people, including foreigners, of their hard earned money and other valuables.                           ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Suicide bomber kills five, injures six in Borno

Borno state on map used to illustrate the story                       A male suicide bomber on Tuesday killed five members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, while six others were injured in Madarari area in Konduga council of Borno. Ibrahim Abdulkadir, Zonal Information Officer of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Borno, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). He told NAN in Maiduguri that the incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. He said that the bomber detonated his Improvised Explosive Device (IED), at a military check point killing the victims. Bello Danbatta, the spokesperson of the Civilian JTF, said he lost four of his men including the leader of the task force in Konduga. Mr Danbatta described the loss as shocking and said that many of his members had lost their lives fighting Boko Haram. “”We evacuated the injured victims ...
Post a Comment
Read more