A former Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Allison Madueke has been told to drop her ex-husband’s name.
The former minister’s estranged husband is a former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Alison Madueke.
He revealed this in a petition he filed in the Lagos State High Court, seeking a legal declaration to end his marriage to Diezani and requesting that she stop using his last name.
The former naval chief general is asking the court to order Diezani to revert to her maiden name, Agama.
The plea was contained in Madueke’s petition for jactitation of marriage (declaration that a marital union has ended).
He said their marriage was legally dissolved on 13 April 2022 in a judgment delivered in Suit No. NSD/MG345/2021 by Hon. Justice A.A. Ozegya of the Nasarawa State High Court in Mararaba Gurku.
He argues that Diezani’s ongoing use of his name despite their marriage being legally over is damaging to his reputation and could lead to unintended consequences, including mistaken liability, particularly given the corruption allegations against her.
Madueke married Diezani on June 30, 1999, under the Marriage Act.
Ms Diezani had previously filed for divorce in November 2021, citing an irreconcilable breakdown of their marriage, seeking to end their union formally.
Mr Madueke said he did not oppose the suit, resulting in the court’s dissolution of the marriage.
Ms Diezani was accused by the EFCC of embezzling $2.5bn from the Nigerian government during her tenure from 2010 to 2015 under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
