Ekweremadu: Ohanaeze Ndigbo condemns Ekwo’s ‘hasty judgment’ 

Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday, condemned what it described as a “hasty judgment” passed by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja against former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.

Ekweremadu is currently detained in the United Kingdom, following allegations of organ harvesting leveled against him by a compatriot.

Last Friday, Justice Ekwo ordered the forfeiture of his 40 landed properties within and outside Nigeria, following an ex-parte motion number FHC/ABJ/CS/1242/2022, filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The Judge ordered the anti-graft agency to publish the interim forfeiture order of all the property in a national daily within seven days from the date that the order was given.

Reacting to the development, Ohanaeze Ndigbo said that Ekweremadu should be given opportunity to defend himself on his property, and if found wanting should face the consequences.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Alex Ogbonnia insisted that it stands on moral probity to state that: “A hasty exparte motion filed by the EFCC on a man who is undergoing some travails in the United Kingdom falls short of ethical standards and natural justice.

“We are aware that there are several allegations of corruption cases pending in the EFCC, but the urgency and selective judgment in the case of Ekweremadu are not only curious but indeed true to type.

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo calls on all the Nigerian legal luminaries of goodwill to intervene against gradual steps towards totalitarianism,” the statement added.