IGP Egbetokun gets 88 bank accounts frozen by district court

 

 

A Karu court, Abuja, has ordered the freezing of 88 bank accounts following an ex parte motion filed by Kayode Egbetokun, Inspector General of Police (IGP), on July 25, 2024.

An FIJ report says the order, binding on 12 financial institutions in Nigeria, contradicts a 2019 Federal High Court order barring magistrates from issuing bank orders to freeze accounts.

According to the document seen and cited by FIJ Magistrate Ahmed Ndajiwo, who presided over the July matter, the 12 institutions were ordered to provide the police with bank statements from January 1 to July 25 for accounts held by 88 defendants.

He also ordered that these institutions provide account opening packages, Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) and other accounts linked to them. Ndajiwo’s final order was for the financial institutions to issue a Post-No-Debit (PND) notice and arrest all 88 accused if they went to make a transaction in person. This was to assist the police in an investigation, the magistrate said.

Nigerian Nurse Living in UK Sentenced to Three Years in Jail for Child Neglect

The obligated institutions include Access Bank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Jaiz Bank, Kuda Microfinance, Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, Opay Digital, Sterling Bank, United Bank for Africa, Wema Bank and Zenith Bank.

Page 1 of the movement seen by FIJ

Court ruling on the matter

The motion did not specify why police were investigating the defendants.

Meanwhile, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja had ruled on October 6, 2020 that magistrates had no power to issue such orders.

In a case marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1635/2019, Ekwo said: “A magistrate has no powers to pass a banking order and/or order freezing or enabling a post-no-debit on bank accounts under the non-existent/repealed Section 7 of the Banker’s Order Act, 1847.”

Shell Accuses Venture Global of ‘Unfairly Profiting’ $3.5 Billion

In that case, it held that “the bankers order/order freezing and/or enabling post-no-debt cannot be validly issued under a non-existent/repealed Bankers Order Act, 1847 and any other irrelevant foreign law”.

Furthermore, Section 251(1)(d) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), gives the Federal Superior Court the exclusive right to exercise jurisdiction in matters relating to banking, banking and other financial regulations. [FIJ]

The post IGP Egbetokun gets 88 bank accounts frozen by district court appeared first on TheConclaveNg.