Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja has fixed Oct. 23 to hearing a the case former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, filed to challenge the EFCC order seeking final forfeiture of her seized assets.
Justice Ekwo gave the order on Wednesday after Alison-Madueke’s lawyer, Benson Igbanoi, and EFCC’s counsel, M.D. Baraya, regularised their processes in the suit.
The EFCC had planned to conduct 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 auctionin started on Jan. 9 with conduct on the seized assets believed to include Diezani’s property.
The immediate-past chairman of EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, had recently said $153 million and over 80 property had been recovered from the former minister accused of escaping to the United Kingdom 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 she, in her suit, sought an order extending the time within which to seek leave to apply to the court for an order to set aside the EFCC’s public notice issued to conduct public sale on her property.
Her counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, in the motion marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023 sought five orders from the court.
While Alison-Madueke is the applicant, the EFCC is the sole respondent in the suit.
The former minister said the various orders were made without jurisdiction, said these “ought to be set aside ex debito justitiae,” while alleging that she was denied fair hearing in all the proceedings leading to the orders.
“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 said.
According to the former minister, she was neither served with the charge sheet and proof of evidence in any of the charge nor any other summons howsoever and whatsoever in respect of the criminal charges pending against her before the court.
She said the courts were misled into making several of the final forfeiture orders against her assets through 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 this honourable 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 orders were made without recourse to the constitutional right to fair hearing and right to property accorded the applicant by the constitution.
“The applicant was never served with the processes of court in all the proceedings that led to the order of final forfeiture,” she said, among other grounds given.
An EFCC detective, Rufai Zaki, in a counter affidavit urged the court to dismiss her
Zaki, who was 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 investigation had clearly shown that she was involved in some acts of criminality.
He said the former minister was therefore charged before the court in charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018. “We hereby rely on the charge FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018 dated 14th November, 2018 filed before this honourable court and also attached as Exhibit C in the applicant’s affidavit,” he said.
Zaki said he had seen the ex-minister’s motion, adding that d most of the depositions were untrue.
He said most of the cases which led to the final forfeiture of the contested property “were action in rem, same were heard at various times and determined by this honourable court” contrary to her deposition in the affidavit.
He said the courts differently 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.
Zaki said one Nnamdi Awa Kalu represented the ex-minister in reaction to one of the forfeiture applications, adding that “we humbly rely on the judgment of Hon. Justice I.LN. Oweibo dated 10th September, 2019 shown in Exhibit C of the applicant’s affidavit,” he said.
According to Zaki, contrary to her, the final forfeiture of the assets which were subject of the present application was ordered by the court since 2017 and that this was not set aside or upturned on appeal, adding that the properties have been disposed off through due process of law.
