Igbo socio/cultural group Ohanaeze Ndigbo said the judgement granting the Economic and Financial Crime Commision power to seize Senator Ike Ekweremadu’s properties in different location in and outside the country was hasty.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had granted the EFCC the power to take over 40 properties belonging to the embattled Senator. This is a fallout of a suit filed by the EFCC against the former deputy Senate President who is currently ensnared in another legal battle in the UK. He has been imprisoned for alleged organ harvesting, a charge brought against him by the UK police. The case was to be held October 31, but it has been adjourned till 2023.
According to a statement by Ohanaze national publicity secretary, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, the Senator ought be given the opportunity to defend himself.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo stands on a moral probity to state that a hasty ex parte motion filed by the EFCC on a man who is undergoing some travails in the United Kingdom falls short of ethical standards and natural justice.
“We maintain that Sen Ike Ekweremadu should be given the opportunity to defend himself on his property, and if found wanting, should surely face the consequences.
“We are aware that there are several allegations of corruption cases pending in the EFCC but the urgency and selective judgement in the case of Ekweremadu is not only curious but indeed true to type.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo calls on all the Nigerian legal luminaries of goodwill to intervene against gradual steps towards totalitarianism.”
