Labour Minister (Chris Ngige) And Lagos lawyer, Nnamdi Chukwuma: EFCC Can Freeze Gov Fayose Bank Account

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State personal accounts and those of some of his associates have been frozen by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Also throwing his weight behind Sagay’s submission, Chief Emeka Ngige, SAN, said: “If during an investigation the EFCC discovers that a particular account has been used for money laundering,  the commission has the right to freeze the account pending the outcome of the investigation. It is not touching the account but just suspending the usage of the account. “It does not matter whether the account belongs to a governor or not.

Ngige also said:  “I have said in the past that the Supreme Court had ruled in a past case that immunity shields governors from arrest and prosecution but not from an investigation. The apex court ruled that the governors have no immunity against investigation. The commission is empowered by the law to investigate governors and if in the course of their investigation, they find that an account has been used for money laundering they can freeze it.”

On his part, the Lagos lawyer, Nnamdi Chukwuma, said: “There is nothing big or serious about the freezing of an account belonging to a state governor. If it is his personal account, he is like any other bank customer, whose transaction is subject to extant laws. However, what is big is that the account cannot be validly frozen except there is an existing court order”.

He also said: “The governor cannot claim political victimization, if the EFCC got a valid court order which will be based on the averment canvassed before the court. There is no court that can grant an order without being convinced of the facts presented before it.

Read Also: Gov Fayose’s Bank Account Can Be Blocked During Investigation — EFCC Said