EFCC Gets Order To Freeze Lagos Assembly Speaker, Obasa’s Accounts

A Federal High Court has granted the request of the Ecoomic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to temporary freeze three bank accounts belonging to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa.

Court papers marked FHC/L/CS/1069/2020 showed that Obasa’s three accounts with Standard Chartered Bank are under restriction pending the conclusion of the substantive probe, SaharaReporters reports.

They include: a United States Dollar account marked 001852963; a current account with number 0018552956 and savings account with number – 5002349821.

The order which was signed by the court’s registrar, Adebimpe Oni, was made on September 15, 2020.

The anti-graft agency said it filed the matter “Pursuant to section 44 (2) (K) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and section 26, 29, and 34 (1) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004, and under the inherent jurisdiction of this honourable court.”

Naija News recalls that the EFCC earlier on Thursday grilled the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly over allegations of fraud.

Wilson Uwujaren, the spokesman for the EFCC, said the Lagos Speaker was invited and he honoured the invitation at the Lagos zone office of the commission on Thursday.

“He was invited, not arrested. He is responding to questions,” the EFCC spokesman said.

This online news platform understands that the two-time Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, has been facing several allegations of corruption.

Some months ago, Obasa appeared before the House panel of enquiry on the corruption allegations levelled against him which he eventually denied but admitted that N80 million as estacode was approved for the training of the wives of 20 lawmakers in Dubai.

Lagos Speaker had said: “We gave N4m to each of the participants for air tickets, hotels, feedings and local travel. Air ticket to Dubai alone costs about N2m. Some of these allegations were raised for a crusade to get the Speaker out of office.

“The House of Assembly is above common standard of excellence and we have to train people, and this comes at a cost. Learning is not cheap and I have never collected N80m for estacode at a go before,” he had said.