Credit: Vanguard News.
Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, the former Petroleum Minister, has prayed to a Federal High Court, Abuja, to vacate an order granted to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for final forfeiture of her seized assets.
According to a report from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the anti-corruption agency had planned to conduct a public sale of all assets seized from Alison-Madueke beginning on January 9, as contained in its public notice.
However, in the motion marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023 dated and filed January 6 by her lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, before Justice Inyang Ekwo, the ex-minister sought five orders from the court.
While Alison-Madueke is the applicant, the EFCC is the sole respondent in the suit.
The former minister argued that the various orders were made without jurisdiction and said these “ought to be set aside ex debito justitiae.”
She said she was not given a fair hearing in all the proceedings leading to the orders.
She further argued that the courts were misled into making several final forfeiture orders against her assets through suppression or non-disclosure of material facts.
“The orders were made without recourse to the constitutional right to fair hearing and right to property accorded the applicant by the constitution.
“The applicant was never served with the processes of court in all the proceedings that led to the order of final forfeiture,” she said, among other grounds given.
But the EFCC, in a counter affidavit deposed to by Rufai Zaki, a detective with the commission, urged the court to dismiss Alison-Madueke’s application.
Zaki, who was a member of the team that investigated a case of criminal conspiracy, official corruption and money laundering against the ex-minister and some other persons involved in the case, said investigation had clearly shown that she was involved in some acts of criminality.
He said Alison-Madueke was therefore charged before the court in charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018.
“We hereby rely on the charge FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018 dated November 14, 2018 filed before this honourable court and also attached as Exhibit C in the applicant’s affidavit,” he said.
The EFCC operative said he had seen the ex-ministers motion and that most of the depositions were untrue.
He said contrary to her deposition in the affidavit in support, most of the cases which led to the final forfeiture of the contested property “were action in rem, same were heard at various times and determined by this honourable court.”
He said the courts differently ordered the commission to do a newspaper publication inviting parties to show cause why the said property should not be forfeited to the Federal Government before final orders were made.
Zaki argued that one Nnamdi Awa Kalu represented the ex-minister in reaction to one of the forfeiture applications.
“We humbly rely on the judgment of Hon. Justice I.LN. Oweibo dated September 10 2019 shown in Exhibit C of the applicant’s affidavit,” he said.
Upon mentioning the matter on Monday, Alison-Madueke’s counsel, Oluchi Uche, told Justice Ekwo that they had just been served by the EFFC on Friday and would need time to respond to the counter affidavit.
Farouk Abdullah, who appeared by the anti-graft agency, did not oppose, and the judge adjourned the matter until May 8 for a hearing.
NAN reports that Alison-Madueke was Nigeria’s Petroleum Minister during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.(NAN).
