Justice Zainab
B. Abubakar of the Federal High Court sitting in Kano, on Tuesday ordered the forfeiture of the sum of $9,772,000 and
£74,000 recovered from a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mr. Andrew Yakubu to the Federal
Government.
This order was sequel to an ex parte application by the EFCC seeking
an interim forfeiture of the recovered money to the Federal Government.
The ex parte 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”
It would be recalled that, on the 3rd day of February, 2017,
operatives of the Commission stormed a building belonging to the former
NNPC boss and recovered a staggering sum of $9,772,000 (Nine Million,
Seven Hundred and Seventy Two Thousand United States Dollars) and
£74,000 (Seventy Four Thousand Pound Sterling) stashed in a huge fire proof safe.
On February 8, 2017, Yakubu reported to the Commission’s Kano Zonal
Office where he admitted being the owner of both the house and the money
recovered.
Yakubu is still in EFCC custody assisting the investigation.