Patience Jonathan Recovers N2bn Hotel Seized By EFCC?

Patience, the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, has recovered her N2bn hotel which was sealed off by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In June, the EFCC placed the red inscriptions, ‘EFCC Under Investigation’ all over the hotel which is located near Setraco Construction Company, off the Mabushi Kado Expressway, Abuja.

But a recent visit to the five-storey building shows that the EFCC inscriptions had been covered.

When Punch correspondent knocked on the gate, three men who attended to him said they acted on the instruction of Mrs. Jonathan.

When asked if they had the right to enter the building, one of them said, “Go and ask the EFCC if they had the right to put their sign all over the building in the first place. If you want more information, go and ask madam.”

The spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said he did not know much about the seizure of the building and thus could not say if it had been returned to Patience or not.

He said, “I have spoken to the appropriate people but I was not able to get any answer on the matter.”

A source at EFCC said it's wrong of Patience to have erased the EFCC inscription from the building.

He said, “Sometimes when we are investigating some politically exposed persons, they immediately begin to sell off their buildings in order to cover their tracks and run away with the cash so that is why we put EFCC signs on the buildings so that innocent people will not buy those buildings.

“As it is, she has removed the inscriptions and can quickly sell it off.”

Although the hotel has not been officially valued by the EFCC, estate agents within the community said that the property should be worth about N2bn.

The property, which has not yet been officially opened, has between 50 and 100 rooms, a gym, a fountain and other amenities.

In his reaction, Mrs. Jonathan’s lawyer, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), said he was not aware of the seizure of the property.

Adedipe said if the hotel in question was indeed seized through a court order, then the removal of the EFCC inscriptions would be of no effect.

He, however, boasted that all properties and funds seized from the former first lady would be returned to her soon.