The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Monday postponed the hearing of a suit filed by former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, challenging the orders obtained by the EFCC for final forfeiture of her seized assets.

The matter, scheduled on number 15 on the cause list, could not proceed due to the absence of the presiding judge, Inyang Ekwo. The court subsequently fixed December 7 for the hearing of the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/21/23.

On June 21, Mr Ekwo fixed Monday for the case hearing after the lawyer who appeared for Ms Alison-Madueke, Benson Igbanoi, and EFCC’s counsel, M.D. Baraya regularised their processes in the suit.

The anti-corruption agency had planned to conduct a public sale of all the assets seized for being proceeds of crime as ordered by courts to be permanently forfeited to the federal government.

The auctioning exercise on the seized assets, believed to include Ms Alison-Madueke’s property, started on January 9.

The immediate-past chairman of EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, had revealed that $153 million and over 80 properties had been recovered from Ms Alison-Madueke.

She was alleged to have escaped to the United Kingdom (UK) and remained there after her exit from public office as the petroleum minister, an office she held between 2010 and 2015 under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

But the ex-minister, in her motion marked FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023 dated and filed on January 6 by her lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, the former minister sought five orders from the court.

The former minister argued that the various orders were made without jurisdiction and said these “ought to be set aside ex debito justitiae.”

She said she was not given a fair hearing in all the proceedings leading to the orders.

But the EFCC, in a counter affidavit deposed to by Rufai Zaki, a detective with the commission, urged the court to dismiss her application.

Mr Zaki, 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 the investigation had clearly shown that she was involved in some acts of criminality.

He said Alison-Madueke was, therefore, charged before the court in charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018.

He said contrary to her deposition in the affidavit in support, most cases which led to the final forfeiture of the contested property “were action in rem, same was heard at various times and determined by this honourable court.”

He said the courts ordered the commission to do a newspaper publication inviting parties to show cause why the said property should not be forfeited to the federal government before final orders were made.

Mr Zaki argued that one Nnamdi Awa Kalu represented the ex-minister in reaction to one of the forfeiture applications.

“We humbly rely on the judgment of Hon. Justice I.LN. Oweibo, dated September 10, 2019, shown in Exhibit C of the applicant’s affidavit,” he said.

The officer said contrary to her, the final forfeiture of the assets, which were the subject of the present application, was ordered by the court in 2017 and that this was not set aside or upturned on appeal.

According to him, the properties have been disposed of through due process of law.

The EFCC had equally filed a money laundering suit against the ex-minister in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018 and brought by the anti-graft lawyer Farouk Abdullah before Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon.

On January 24, 2022, Justice Olajuwon issued an arrest warrant against Ms Alison-Madueke, following an oral application by Mr Abdullah that the defendant had refused to come to the country to stand her trial.

(NAN)