Section 27: Detention of seized cash.

1 Where the designated officer continues to have reasonable grounds for his suspicion, cash seized under section 26 of this Act may be detained initially for a period of seven days to enable the designated officer apply to the Court for an order to detain the cash.

2 The period referred to in subsection (1) shall not include Saturdays and Sundays or any day which is a public holiday in Nigeria.

3 The period for which the cash, or any part of it, may be detained may be extended by an order of the Court, but the order shall not authorise the detention of the cash, or any part of it, beyond three months, commencing from the date of the order.

4 Subsequent orders for the continued detention of the cash may be made by the Court but no order shall authorise the further detention of the cash beyond a cumulative period of 12 months commencing from the date of the first order.

5 An application for an order under subsections (3) and (4) may be made by a designated officer, and the Court may make the order, where satisfied, in relation to any cash to be further detained, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the cash is—
a the proceeds of unlawful activity; or
b intended to be an instrumentality of an offence and that—
(i) its continued detention is justified while its derivation is further investigated or consideration is given to bringing, in Nigeria or elsewhere, proceedings against any person for an offence with which the cash is connected, or
(ii) proceedings against a person for an offence with which the cash is connected have started and have not been concluded.

6 Where cash is detained by virtue of subsection (5), the Court may direct its release if satisfied, on an application made by the person from whom it was seized that—
a there are no justifiable grounds for the detention of the cash; or
b the grounds for the continued detention of the cash, as specified in subsection (5), cease to exist.