Embattled former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, on
Saturday, said that he did not have up to 48 properties in Abuja but
instead three which jointly belonged to him and his wife.
Sylva, who is standing trial over an alleged N6.46 billion fraud,
also described the purported seizure of his properties by the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as “media trial and condemnation
without getting to the root and substance of the facts.”
He also accused the Attorney-General of the Federation and the EFCC
of disregarding the order of Justice M.M. Kolo of an Abuja High Court
delivered on December 27, 2012.
According to him, he did not have 48 properties anywhere in the
world, adding that the three properties he had in Abuja and which were
covered by the order of the FCT High Court were bought before he became
governor of Bayelsa State.
Sylva, who made these assertions in a statement issued by his
counsel, Benson Ibezim, and obtained by Sunday Tribune said instead of
obeying the court order, the EFCC was writing to the occupants of the
properties covered by the court order.
He further stated that, “We seriously frown on the practice of media
trial and condemnation without getting to the root and substance of the
facts. Trials are done in courts of law and not on the pages of
newspapers where the general public is fed with all manner of falsehood,
including imaginary 48 houses. We humbly and respectfully call on the
media to exercise due diligence in their reporting.
“We were astonished to read from virtually all Nigerian newspapers
that 48 houses belonging to Chief Timipre Sylva were seized. In the
first instance, Chief Timipre Sylva is not having 48 properties anywhere
in the world. The three properties he has in Abuja had been secured by
an order of court granted by F.C.T. High Court and the Attorney General
of the Federation and EFCC have been duly served since the 27th day of
December, 2012.
“The three properties covered by the order of F.C.T. High Court are
properties that were legitimately acquired by Chief Timipre Sylva and
his wife before he became the governor of Bayelsa State. The records are
quite clear on these properties as there is no iota of doubt as to the
period of their acquisition, more so as these properties were duly
declared by Chief Timipre Sylva on his assumption of office as the
governor of Bayelsa State.”
Ibezim said when Sylva became aware of the plan by the EFCC to
humiliate him by throwing him out of his house that was bought before he
became governor of Bayelsa state, “we wrote a letter to the Attorney
General of the Federation and the chairman of the EFCC. Till date both
of them did not respond to the letters.”
He said, “It must be observed that we became aware of the interim
order of attachment granted to the EFCC on January 4, 2013 as same was
attached to the court process that was served on us by the EFCC on the
said 4th January, 2013. It is elementary knowledge of law that a party
can only be bound by an order of court upon service of the court order
on the party. Chief Timipre Sylva was not aware of the existence of any
order of the Federal High court against him as none was served on him.”
“It is worthy to note that the Attorney General of the Federation and
EFCC were duly served with the order of F.C.T. High Court on the 27th
day of December, 2012. Rather than obeying the order of the court, the
EFCC is taking steps in respect of the properties by writing to the
occupants of the properties covered by the order of court,”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
-
Operating licences of 236 out of about 730 bureaux de change operating in Nigeria have been withdrawn by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CB...
-
By Juliana Francis One thing became crystal clear at the passing out parade and commissioning of 385 members of the Cadet Officers bas...
-
Seyi Gesinde reports the tragic death of Dr Myles Munroe, which occured aboard a plane which crashed while trying to land in The Baha...
No comments:
Post a Comment