The Court of Appeal sitting in Ado-Ekiti has okayed the freezing of the bank accounts of Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State.
The lead Judge of the three-man panel granted the appeal filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC against a prior judgement to have Fayose’s accounts unfrozen.
But the Special assistant to the governor on Public Communication said the case would be taken to the Supreme court.
Recall that in 2016, a Federal High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti set aside an earlier order of a federal high court in Lagos empowering the EFCC to freeze two Zenith Bank accounts of Fayose.
The court had ordered the EFCC to immediately lift the freeze order on the two accounts belonging to the governor, saying the anti-graft agency did not follow due process.
Taiwo had given the order while delivering his judgment, which lasted more than two hours, in a suit filed by the governor through Mike Ozekhome, his counsel.
The judge said the rights of the governor had been infringed upon, considering the circumstance of his office.
He described Fayose as “a genuinely deprived person who rushed to the court to seek constitutional protection”.
The judge said it was also the duty of any presiding judge to protect the said constitution and its interpretations whenever the need arose.
“The plaintiff is entitled to be heard before his property or money can be seized; doing otherwise will amount to denying him fair hearing and constitutional rights,” he said.
The judge refused to grant other reliefs sought by the governor, including a perpetual injunction restraining EFCC or its agents from further tampering with his property.
The judge also refused to grant another relief asking for payment of N5 billion as exemplary damages.
