A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of $49,700 said to have been recovered from a former Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for Sokoto State, Dr. Nura Ali.
Justice Emeka Nwite issued the order yesterday after a lawyer from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Osuobeni Akponimisingha, moved a motion on a notice he filed at the court.
Akponimisingha said following an earlier interim forfeiture order granted by the court, the ICPC made a newspaper publication for interested persons to show why the recovered funds should not be handed over to the Federal Government, as directed by the court.
He said no person indicated interest after publication, and that nobody came to court yesterday to claim ownership of the funds
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The counsel prayed the court to issue an order forfeiting the $49,700.
Justice Nwite had, on December 30, 2024, issued an order of temporary forfeiture of the seized fund while ruling on a motion ex parte filed by the ICPC.
The ICPC had, in a court filing, claimed that the victim of the alleged crime was the Federal Government and taxpayers.
The commission said the money was recovered during a search operation by operatives of the DSS at the residence of Ali, who was then REC in Sokoto during the 2023 general election.
The ICPC added: “The alleged movable property of $49,700.00 was bribe money received by Dr. Nura Ali when he was the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner for Sokoto State.
“The alleged movable property is not the legitimate earnings of Dr Ali as an Independent National Electoral Commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner.
“The alleged movable property is suspected to be proceeds of crime.”
The anti-graft agency argued that INEC does not pay its workers in dollars as salaries or allowances.
It said the essence of the application was not to compulsorily acquire the movable property but to preserve the property from dissipation.