Reps Direct Banks To Unfreeze Patience Jonathan’s Account

House of Representatives Committee on public petitions has directed six commercial banks in the country to unfreeze accounts of Patience Jonathan, former first lady.

The committee led by Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), gave the directive on Tuesday during the hearing of a petition by Mrs. Jonathan.

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The said banks are Union Bank, First Bank, EcoBank, Diamond Bank, Fidelity Bank and Skye Bank.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had directed the banks to place the former first lady’s account on “precautionary restriction” over allegations of some irregularities over the sources of the funds.

“We received a communication from EFCC to put a precautionary restriction on the account. The letter was dated March 21, 2016, so we had to act based on that,’’ an official of Union Bank said.

But the committee rebuffed the EFCC directive, directing the banks to unfreeze the accounts until the anti-graft proved that it had obtained a court order to that effect.

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“Until EFCC proves otherwise, I’ll ask you to remove the precautionary restriction on the account. Let me tell you, whatever you’ll do, you must follow the law. A bank can’t hold a legal entity to ransom,” Nkem-Abonta said.

“I want to order all other banks that all the accounts that have no specific pending order from the courts, please release them.’’

The committee also gave Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the EFCC, up till October 4 to appear before it or have arrest warrant issued against him.

Meanwhile, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) had said that Aridolf Resort Wellness and SPA, owned by Jonathan, failed to pay taxes of over N10 million.

Jonathan’s lawyers denied the allegation, saying the company paid all its taxes.

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Following the development, the panel asked Jonathan’s lawyers and the FIRS to reconcile their positions.

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