Patience Jonathan recovers #2 billion hotel from Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)

- The wife of former president, Goodluck Jonathan has continued her ongoing battle with the EFCC

- Patience Jonathan recently had her staff remove all inscriptions the commission had put on her hotel

- The hotel worth N2bn was reportedly under investigation, but she seems to be daring the anti-graft agency

Patience Jonathan, has recovered her N2bn hotel which was sealed off by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in June 2017.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission  had placed the red inscriptions saying: ‘EFCC Under Investigation’ all over the hotel which is located near Setraco Construction Company, off the Mabushi Kado Expressway.

However, according to The Punch, recently, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) inscriptions had been covered with patches of grey paint.

Three men who spoke to the press said they acted on the instruction of Mrs Jonathan. When asked if they had the right to enter the building, one of them said:

“Go and ask the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) if they had the right to put their sign all over the building in the first place. If you want more information, go and ask madam.”

Mr Wilson Uwujaren, the spokesman for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said he did not know much about the seizure of the building and thus could not say if it had been returned to Patience or not.

He also told the press: “I have spoken to the appropriate people but I was not able to get any answer on the matter.”

However, an unnamed source at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said it was wrong of Patience to have erased the EFCC inscription from the building.

He said: “Sometimes when we are investigating some politically exposed persons, they immediately begin to sell off their buildings in order to cover their tracks and run away with the cash so that is why we put Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
signs on the buildings so that innocent people will not buy those buildings.

“As it is, she has removed the inscriptions and can quickly sell it off.”Mrs Jonathan’s lawyer, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), said he was not aware of the seizure of the property.

Adedipe said if the hotel in question was indeed seized through a court order, then the removal of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) inscriptions would be of no effect.

He said: “I am not aware of the seizure of property. If the EFCC seal was removed from the property, let them go and put another one.

"In any case, we have sued the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for abuse of her human rights and human dignity. The matter is pending before the Federal High Court in Abuja and everything has been included in that suit.

“We are challenging all the seizures because without prejudice to our case, Mrs. Jonathan was neither a public officer nor a contractor. So, the idea of harassing her beats my imagination.

“I don’t see the basis for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) harassment of that woman and the case wears a political toga because she was a formidable element during the campaign.”

The House of Representatives on Thursday, July 6, received a petition from the former first lady.

In the petition presented to the House by Hon. Gogo Bright, the former first lady alleged that she and her family members were “incessantly harassed” by security agencies.