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New affidavit adds twist to Patience-EFCC legal battle

Published

9 years ago

September 29, 2017

Waripamo-Owei Dudafa, a former aide of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, received instructions to open five bank accounts in the name of Patience Jonathan, but he ended up opening only one, and four others for himself.

That’s is Mrs. Jonathan’s claim contained in an affidavit sworn to by one Sammie Somiari in support of a fundamental rights enforcement suit Mrs Jonathan filed against the EFCC.

The other four accounts were opened in the names of companies linked to Dudafa. He and the companies are being prosecuted now.

The four companies are Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited; Seagate Property Development & Investment Co. Limited; Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited and Development Company Limited and Globus Integrated Service Limited.

The EFCC froze $15.5 million available in the accounts held by the four companies suspected to be fronts for the former first lady last year, and the agency dragged Dydafa to court for money laundering.

However, Jinathnan claimed that the funds in the companies’ accounts belonged to her, even though she was not listed as a signatory to any of the accounts.

ALSO SEE: NGO Patience used to hide latest wealth EFCC just uncovered

She has been urging the court to unfreeze the accounts.

Dudafa and the companies are also defendants in the ongoing fundamental rights lawsuit.

According to the affidavit, Dudafa had on March 22, 2010 brought two Skye Bank officers, Demola Bolodeoku and Dipo Oshodi, to meet Mrs. Jonathan at her residence to discuss the opening of five accounts.

Jonathan later discovered that Dudafa opened only one of the accounts in her name while the other four were opened in the names of companies belonging to the presidential aide.

“The applicant (Mrs. Jonathan) complained about this to Honorable Dudafa, who, at his prompting and instance, promised to effect the change of the said accounts to the applicant’s name; and to effect this change, Honorable Dudafa brought the said bank manager, Mr. Dipo Oshodi, who purported to have effected the changes. This was about April 2014,” Mr. Somiari’s affidavit claimed.

The affidavit continued: “The applicant is not a director, shareholder or participant in the companies named in the aforementioned four accounts.

“The bank official, Mr. Dipo Oshodi, as it would appear, did not effect or reflect the instruction of the applicant to change the said accounts to her name(s) despite repeated requests of the applicant.

“Besides, the ATM credit cards bearing the said companies’ names were brought to the applicant by Mr. Dipo Oshodi of the 2nd respondent bank, who promised to replace them once the cards bearing the changed names were available, but he never did.

“However, since 2010 up until 2014 and thereafter, the applicant had been using the cards on the said accounts and operating the said accounts without let or hindrance.

“Even in May, June and July 2016, the applicant traveled overseas for medical treatment and was using the said credit cards abroad up until July 7, 2016 or thereabouts when the cards stopped functioning.”

The Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos fixed November 2for continued hearing of the lawsuit in which Mrs. Jonathan is demanding N200m as damages from the EFCC for barring her from accessing her controversial accounts.

Skye Bank Plc., where the accounts are domiciled, is also joined in the suit. Mrs. Jonathan filed the lawsuit to protest against the ‘No Debit Order’ placed by the EFCC on the accounts of the four companies domiciled in Skye Bank.