Court lifts order on Ozekhome's account

Reprieve has come for the legal icon, Chief Mike Ozek­home (SAN) as the Fed­eral High Court, Lagos has lifted the order bar­ring him from accessing his account with Guar­anty Trust Bank (GTB).

The account was fro­zen on the request of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The anti-graft agency accused him of receiving N75 million legal fee from the Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Com­mission had on Febru­ary 7, 2017, obtained an interim order stopping Ozekhome from dissi­pating the N75 million on the grounds that it formed part of proceeds of alleged criminal activi­ties by Fayose.

The EFCC claimed that the money which Fayose paid to Ozekhome was part of the N2.26 billion arms procurement funds, which former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd) allegedly looted.

EFCC said that it traced N1.22 billion of the N2.26 billion which Dasuki allegedly looted to Fayose’s accounts.

Consequently, Justice Abdulaziz Anka on Feb­ruary 7, 2017, froze Oze­khome’s account for 120 days.

Ozekhome, however, approached the court to vacate the interim order.

In a ruling on Mon­day, Justice Anka granted Ozekhome’s prayer and dismissed the counter-af­fidavit filed by the EFCC.

The judge said that though it was not in doubt that the N75 mil­lion came from Fayose, Ozekhome could not be held liable because there was no restriction on Fay­ose’s account at the time the N75 million was paid to his law firm. The Authority