A court has ordered that the $9.8 million and
74,000 pounds recovered from a house belonging to Andrew Yakubu be forfeited to
the Nigerian government.
The anti-graft agency, EFCC, last Friday
announced it recovered the
money (about N3 billion in total) from a Kaduna home of the former head of the
state oil firm, NNPC.
Mr. Yakubu, who reportedly admitted owning the
money has
since
been arrested and is in custody of the EFCC.
The Federal High Court in Kano presided over by
Justice Zainab Abubakar ordered the forfeiture on Tuesday.
The order was sequel to an ex parte application by
the EFCC seeking an interim forfeiture of the recovered money to the Federal
Government.
The application was moved by Salihu Sani, counsel
for the applicant.
In her ruling, Justice Zainab held “That the sum of
$9,772,000 (Nine Million, Seven Hundred and Seventy Two Thousand United States
Dollars) and £74,000 (Seventy Four Thousand Pound Sterling) which are now in
the custody of the applicant (EFCC) are in the interim forfeited to the Federal
Government of Nigeria”
The huge cash was hidden in
a fire proof safe, the commission had said.
The spokesperson for the
EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement that the surprise raid of the
facility was sequel to an intelligence which the commission received about
suspected proceeds of crime believed to be hidden in the slums of Sabon Tasha
area of Kaduna.
On arrival at the facility,
the caretaker of the house, one Bitrus Yakubu, a younger brother to Andrew
Yakubu, disclosed that both the house and the safe where the money was found
belong to his brother, Andrew Yakubu.
When the safe was opened it
was discovered that it contained the sum of $9,772,800 and another sum of
£74,000.
On February 8, Mr. Yakubu
reported to the Commission’s Zonal office in Kano and made statement wherein he
admitted ownership of the recovered money, claiming it was gift from unnamed
persons, Mr. Uwujaren said.
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