EFCC challenges court order releasing Okwete’s 27 houses
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has filed an appeal against a Federal High Court judgment that ordered the release of 27 properties linked to businessman James Ikechukwu Okwete. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Abuja division had earlier vacated an interim forfeiture order on the houses and directed the EFCC to immediately return the properties and documents to Okwete, his company Jamec West African Limited, and another claimant, Adebukunola Iyabode Oladapo. The judge ruled that the anti graft agency failed to prove that the assets were proceeds of unlawful activity, holding that affidavits and documents submitted by the owners showed legitimate acquisition and therefore had merit. In its notice of appeal lodged at the Abuja Court of Appeal, the EFCC is asking the appellate court to set aside the decision, arguing that the trial judge erred in law by dismissing […]