Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has granted former Minister of Petroleum Diezani Alison-Madueke permission to amend her suit challenging the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) order for the final forfeiture of her seized assets.
Justice Ekwo approved the amendment request after Diezani’s lawyer, Godwin Inyinbor, moved the motion, which the EFCC’s counsel, Divine Oguru, did not oppose. The court ordered the former minister to file and serve the amended processes within five days, while the EFCC was given 14 days to respond. The matter was adjourned until March 17 for further mention.
Alison-Madueke had sued the EFCC as the sole respondent, seeking to overturn the anti-graft agency’s public notice for the sale of her forfeited assets. In her motion filed on January 6, 2023, she argued that the orders leading to the forfeiture were issued without jurisdiction and should be set aside.
“The various court orders issued in favour of the respondent and upon which the respondent issued the public notice were issued in breach of the applicant’s right to fair hearing as guaranteed by Section 36 (1) of the 1999 Constitution,” she stated.
She claimed she was neither served with the charge sheet nor any summons related to the criminal charges pending against her. Additionally, she argued that the courts were misled into granting the forfeiture orders due to suppression of material facts.
“The several applications upon which the courts made the final order of forfeiture against the applicant were obtained upon gross misstatements, misrepresentations, non-disclosure, concealment, and suppression of material facts,” she contended.
In response, EFCC operative Rufus Zaki, who was part of the investigation into alleged criminal conspiracy, corruption, and money laundering against Diezani, urged the court to dismiss her application. He stated that the former minister was charged in case number FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018 and that the forfeiture cases were properly adjudicated in court.
Zaki also argued that contrary to Diezani’s claims, the court had issued public notices inviting interested parties to contest the forfeiture before making final rulings. He cited a judgment by Justice I.L.N. Oweibo dated September 10, 2019, in which a lawyer, Nnamdi Awa Kalu, had represented the ex-minister in response to one of the forfeiture applications.
He further stated that the final forfeiture of the assets was ordered in 2017 and had not been overturned on appeal. According to him, the properties have already been disposed of through due legal processes.
The EFCC had begun auctioning the seized assets on January 9, 2023, following final forfeiture orders. Former EFCC chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa previously disclosed that $153 million and over 80 properties had been recovered from Diezani.
The former minister, who served under former President Goodluck Jonathan between 2010 and 2015, was accused of fleeing to the United Kingdom, where she has remained since leaving office.
This asset-related case is separate from another lawsuit in which Alison-Madueke is seeking ₦100 billion in damages from the EFCC over alleged defamatory publications against her.