Judge Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court of Abuja has approved a license from former Petroleum Diezani Alison-Madueke to modify its lawsuit, challenging the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) The Order (EFCC) order to ultimately confiscate its seized assets.
Justice Ekwo’s lawyer, Godwin Inyinbor, in Diezani, approved the amendment, and EFCC’s lawyer Divine Oguru did not object to the motion. The court ordered the former minister to file and serve the amended procedure within five days, while the EFCC received a 14-day response. The matter was adjourned until March 17 and further mentioned.
Alison-Madueke has sued the EFCC as the sole defendant in an attempt to overturn public notices from the anti-grafting agency to sell her forfeiture assets. In a motion filed on January 6, 2023, she argued that the order that led to the confiscation was unjustifiable and should be put aside.
“Under the various court orders issued by the defendant, the public notice issued by the defendant violated the assurance of Article 36(1) of the Constitution of 1999 and violated the applicant’s right to fair hearing.”
She claimed she was neither charged nor any subpoena related to the criminal charges against her. Furthermore, she argued that the court was misled to approve the confiscation order due to the suppression of major facts.
She argued: “Several applications for the final confiscation order against the applicant were obtained in the case of serious misrepresentation, false statements, non-disclosure, concealment and suppression of material facts.”
In response, EFCC agent Rufus Zaki, part of an investigation into alleged criminal conspiracy, corruption and money laundering against Dizani, urged the court to dismiss her application. He said the former minister was prosecuted in case number FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018 and correctly ruled in court forfeiture.
Zaki also argued that contrary to Dizani’s claim, the court had issued a public notice inviting interested persons to confiscate the forfeiture before a final ruling was made. He cites the verdict of Judge Iln Oweibo on September 10, 2019, in which one attorney, Nnamdi Awa Kalu, represented the front lineup in response to one of the forfeiture applications.
He further pointed out that the ultimate confiscation of assets was ordered in 2017 and was not overturned by appeal. According to him, the property has been processed through appropriate legal procedures.
After the final confiscation order, the EFCC has started auctioning the seized assets on January 9, 2023. Former EFCC chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa previously revealed that he had recovered $153 million and more than 80 properties from Diezani.
The former minister, who served in former President Goodluck Jonathan between 2010 and 2015, was accused of fleeing to the UK and has remained in the UK since leaving office.
The asset-related case is separated from another lawsuit in which Alison-Madueke sought 100 billion damages from the EFCC for her defamatory publications.
