Court retains block on ex-First Lady's accounts

The High Court in Lagos has rejected a request by former First Lady Patience Jonathan to have her bank accounts unfrozen. Legalbrief reports that Jonathan's accounts which contain about $15.5m were blocked by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after it was determined that she had allegedly received funds from various companies, including Pluto Property and Investment and Seagate Property Development and Investment Company. Through their legal representatives, the companies pleaded guilty to money laundering in 2016. THISDAY reports that Justice Mohammed Idris ordered all parties to file papers with regards to the ownership of the funds. 'The issues formulated by all the defendants are baseless. They amount to no issue and will be ignored by the court,' he said.