Diezani fights back against EFCC from the UK seeking to get seized properties returned to her

FORMER petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke has commenced legal action to try and recover some of the assets seized from her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a bid to prevent their final forfeiture.

Under investigation both in Nigeria and the UK, Ms Alison-Madueke, who was in office between 2011 and 2015, has been accused of participating in largescale corruption, including using her position to allocate lucrative oil wells to close associates worth billions of dollars. Since leaving office, Ms Alison-Madueke has taken refuge in the UK, where she was arrested and granted bail pending the filing of formal charges against her.

EFCC chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa, said that the commission had recovered $153m and no fewer than 80 choice property valued at $80m from the former minister who had been living in Britain since leaving office in 2015. In a bid to forestall the final forfeiture of her seized assets, Ms Alison-Madueke has asked a federal high court in Abuja to vacate an order granted to the EFCC.

In an originating motion, Ms Alison-Madueke sought an order extending the time within which to seek leave to apply to the court for an order to set aside the EFCC’s public notice issued to conduct public sale on her property. On January 9, the EFCC had planned to start a public sale of all assets seized from ms Alison-Madueke as contained in its public notice.

However, in the motion marked dated and filed on January 6 by her lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome before Justice Inyang Ekwo, the former minister sought five orders from the court.  Ms Alison-Madueke argued that she was not given a fair hearing in all the proceedings leading to the orders.

In addition, she argued that she was neither served with the charge sheet and proof of evidence in any of the charges nor any other summons in respect of the criminal charges pending against her before the court. Ms Alison-Madueke further argued that the courts were misled into making several of the final forfeiture orders against her assets through suppression or non-disclosure of material facts.

Ms Alison-Madueke added: “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 and this honourable court has the power to set-aside same ex debito justitiae, as a void order is as good as if it was never made at all. The orders were made without recourse to the constitutional right to fair hearing and right to property accorded the applicant by the constitution.

However, the EFCC, in a counter affidavit deposed to by Rufai Zaki, a detective with the commission, urged the court to dismiss Ms Alison-Madueke’s application. Mr 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.

Me Zaki argued that one Nnamdi Awa Kalu represented the ex-minister in reaction to one of the forfeiture applications. After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge adjourned the matter until May 8 for hearing.