A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has adjourned the hearing of a motion filed by former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, seeking to amend the originating process in her ongoing legal battle with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. The presiding Judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo has rescheduled the hearing for February 17, 2025.
Accordingly, the former petroleum Minister, Alison-Madueke, has through her counsel, Professor Mike Ozekhome (SAN), filed the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023, requesting the court to extend the time to apply for an order to set aside the EFCC’s public notice issued for the sale of her assets.
In her application, Alison-Madueke argued that the orders for the forfeiture of her assets were made without jurisdiction, claiming she was denied a fair hearing in the proceedings that led to the forfeiture orders. She sought five orders from the court, including the annulment of the EFCC’s public notice on the asset sale
Madueke further stated that various court orders issued in favour of the EFCC violated her constitutional right to a fair hearing, as enshrined in Section 36 (1) of the 1999 Constitution. She insisted that she was never at any time served with the charge sheet, proof of evidence, or any summons regarding the charges against her.
He statement partly reads; “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, as altered, and other similar constitutional provisions,” she argued.
According to her, she claimed that the courts had been misled into granting forfeiture orders due to the suppression or non-disclosure of critical information. She further insisted that the orders were made in violation of her right to property, as guaranteed by the Constitution.
However, responding, the EFCC, representative, Detective Rufai Zaki, urged the court to dismiss Alison-Madueke’s application.
Zaki, a member of the EFCC’s investigative team on the former minister’s alleged involvement in criminal conspiracy, official corruption, and money laundering, maintained that Alison-Madueke had been rightfully charged before the court.
He argued that the said application for final forfeiture of the accused assets had been properly instituted and conducted, with all legal requirements followed.
He therefore asserted that the properties were duly disposed of following the court’s order, which had been made in 2017 and was not overturned on appeal.
The anti graft also revealed that its efforts to auction the seized assets, believed to include Alison-Madueke’s properties, were in line with the court’s order. The auction process began on January 9, 2023, as part of the agency’s broader efforts to recover the proceeds of crime.
During the proceedings on Thursday, Alison-Madueke’s lawyer, Godwin Iyinbor, informed the court that they intended to amend their application challenging the final forfeiture of the seized assets.
However, there was no legal representative from the EFCC to represent them as their counsel in court.
Meanwhile, Justice Ekwo, upon confirmation that the EFCC had served the necessary documents on the applicant’s counsel, adjourned the matter to February 17, 2025, for the hearing of the motion to amend the originating summons.