Civil Servant Forfeits N124.5m Property To FG

A Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Zuba, Abuja, has ordered the forfeiture to the Federal Government of properties worth N124.5m said to have been illegally acquired by a principal accountant at the Finance and Accounts Department of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Daniel Obah.

Obah was arraigned before Justice E. O. Ebong by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission for acquiring a four-bedroom duplex in Abuja and plots of land in Rivers State through corrupt means.

The ICPC counsel, John-Paul Okwor, told the court that the commission was relying on Section 48 (2) (3) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, which gave it the power to obtain a ruling of forfeiture or seizure of assets acquired by individuals through corrupt means.

 A statement by the ICPC spokesperson, Rashedat Okoduwa, on Monday in Abuja, said the commission argued before the court that Obah and two other employees of the ministry, Poloma Nuhu and Mangset Dickson, allegedly carried out a coordinated fraud resulting in the withdrawal of N605m from the ministry’s 2014 constituency project account with the Central Bank of Nigeria.