The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to ignore the recent acquittal of former Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke by a United Kingdom court, insisting the foreign judgment has no impact on ongoing forfeiture proceedings involving assets linked to her.
In a further counter-affidavit opposing Diezani’s bid to tender the June 17 judgment of the Southwark Crown Court in London—which discharged and acquitted her of bribery and corruption charges—the anti-graft agency argued that the UK proceedings are completely separate from the Nigerian case.
Justice Inyang Ekwo had on July 1 granted the former minister leave to present the UK judgment as evidence. The EFCC, however, maintained that those proceedings “have nothing to do with the substantive suit before this honourable court” and bear no relation to the final forfeiture orders under which the disputed assets were already disposed of.
The commission urged the court to dismiss Diezani’s application and supplementary affidavit, describing some of the claims in them as misleading. It stressed that the properties in question were sold pursuant to final forfeiture orders issued by Justice C.A. Obiozor on July 9, 2019, and Justice I.N. Oweibo on September 10, 2019—orders that remain valid and have not been set aside.
According to the EFCC, notices were published in newspapers inviting interested parties to show cause why the assets should not be forfeited before the final orders were made. “The final forfeiture orders pursuant to which the sale of the properties was conducted are still in force and have not been set aside. The forfeited properties were disposed of in accordance with due process of law,” the agency stated.
Diezani, through her counsel Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, is seeking an order compelling the EFCC to retrieve the properties allegedly sold to third parties. In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023, she alleges that the commission began selling assets linked to her without giving her a fair hearing. She further claims that several of the final forfeiture orders were obtained through misrepresentation, suppression and non-disclosure of material facts.
The former minister argues that she has not been convicted of any offence that would justify the forfeiture, that the courts lacked jurisdiction to make the orders without hearing her, and that she has been outside Nigeria since 2015 for medical treatment and was not properly served with court processes. She also contends that the orders were made under the civil standard of proof rather than the stricter criminal standard, and notes that she has three pending suits against the EFCC in Lagos challenging the forfeitures.
The EFCC countered that criminal proceedings have been instituted against Diezani in Nigerian courts, including charge FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018 at the Federal High Court and HC/ADYL/56C/2017 at the Adamawa State High Court, following investigations into her tenure as a public servant.
Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter to November 11 for hearing of the pending applications.