Diezani's husband files suit against her asking that she stop using his surname as they are divorced

EMBATTLED former petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke has been dragged to court by her ex husband retired Admiral Alison Madueke who is seeking a legal declaration to prevent her from using his surname any more.

Since leaving office in 2015 and going into exile in the UK, Ms Alison-Madueke has been the subject of numerous investigations in Nigeria and internationally. She has been asked to forfeit UK properties worth over £11m and has been forced to surrender about N7.6bn ($17.4m) hidden in a Nigerian bank to the government.

In July 2019, Diezani had jewellery worth $40m, including a customised gold iPhone, seized from her after a Lagos federal high court ordered their forfeiture to the federal government. Last year, Ms Alison-Madueke  was arraigned before the a London high court charged with fresh bribery allegations in addition to the 13-counts bordering on money laundering that she is already facing.

Also last year, Diezani appeared before the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, over an alleged £100,000 bribe. District judge, Michael Snow, granted her bail for a sum of £70,000 under terms which included an 11 pm to 6 am curfew, an electronic tag to be worn by her at all times and the sum of £70,000 to be paid before she could leave the court building.

Now, the former minister is facing a new legal challenge on the domestic front, after her ex-husband, filed a petition in the Lagos State High Court, seeking a legal declaration to end his marriage and a request that she stop using his last name. Rear Admiral Madueke, a former Nigerian chief of naval staff, is asking the court to order Diezani to revert to her maiden name, Agama.

His lawyers argued that Diezani’s ongoing use of his name despite their marriage being legally over is damaging to his reputation and could lead to unintended consequences, including mistaken liability, particularly given the corruption allegations against her.

Admiral Madueke married Diezani on June 30, 1999, under the Marriage Act. Diezani filed for divorce at the Nassarawa State High Court in Mararaba Gurku in November 2021, citing an irreconcilable breakdown of their marriage, seeking to end their union formally and her husband did not oppose the suit, resulting in the court’s dissolution of the marriage.

Lawyers representing Admiral Madueke, argued:  “The respondent’s continued use of the petitioner’s first and surname falsely suggests to the public a continuing relationship between the parties though same has since legally ended. The respondent’s continued use of the petitioner’s first and family names poses a significant risk of legal and financial harm to the petitioner."

Diezani has held several significant positions in the Nigerian government, including minister for transport, minister for mines and steel development and minister of petroleum resources. She was also the first female president of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, elected in November 2014.