NIGERIA: Diezani Alison-Madueke Seeks Court Order To Halt Sale Of Seized Properties By EFCC

By Ameenat Hamzat, Lagos, Nigeria

Nigerian Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to stop the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from selling off properties seized from her.

The former Minister of Petroleum Resources filed the legal action through her lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, and is requesting the court to direct the EFCC to retrieve any properties already sold.

The ex-minister argues that the EFCC began selling her assets in 2023 without her being served notice or being allowed to defend herself. She claims that the agency’s actions violated her fundamental right to a fair hearing.

The EFCC had initiated the sale based on final forfeiture orders obtained from various courts, but Alison-Madueke insists these orders were granted through misrepresentation and suppression of facts.

In her filing, Alison-Madueke states that she was not served with any charges, proof of evidence, or summons related to criminal proceedings that led to the forfeiture orders.

She accuses the EFCC of misleading courts into granting these orders, which she contends were made by courts that lacked jurisdiction.

Alison-Madueke, who has been outside Nigeria for medical treatment since 2015, says she was unaware of the proceedings, as she did not have access to Nigerian newspapers during this period.

She maintains that despite the EFCC’s claims, she has never been convicted of any crime justifying the forfeiture of her assets.

She said; “In many cases, the final forfeiture orders were made against properties which affected the Applicant’s interest, the courts were misled into making the final order of forfeiture against the Applicant, based on suppression or non-disclosure 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 and thus 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 former minister further argues that the forfeiture orders were based on civil standards of proof, rather than the higher criminal standards required for such declarations. She is challenging the validity of these orders, which she claims were granted without proper judicial process.

In response, the EFCC filed a counter-affidavit, asserting that the sale of the properties followed valid final forfeiture orders issued by courts in 2019. The EFCC maintains that the sales were conducted following the law, after making public notices inviting anyone with an interest in the properties to respond.

The case, which has been ongoing since 2023, was adjourned to March 27 for further hearing. Justice Inyang Ekwo, presiding over the case, warned both parties against any further delays, stressing that the court would no longer tolerate excuses.

This latest legal challenge follows Alison-Madueke’s previous defamation suit against the EFCC, in which she demanded N100 billion in damages for what she described as defamatory publications linking her to corruption.