Reasons Diezani Asks Court To Stop EFCC from Auctioning Her Seized Assets Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former minister of petroleum resources, has asked a federal high court in Abuja to stop the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from auctioning all the properties seized from her.
In an amended application filed by her lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, before Inyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, Diezani further requested an order directing the EFCC to retrieve from persons (natural or corporate) to whom it had sold any of the properties.
She submitted that the EFCC breached her normal rights to a fair hearing with a public auction of her assets.
The former minister argued that despite EFCC’s suggestions that a final order of forfeiture was granted against her seized properties, she was neither served with any bill or proof of evidence of any criminal proceeding nor calls relating to any matter pending before any court.
The applicator implicated the anti-graft agency of obtaining forfeiture orders against her through misrepresentations and concealment of facts.
“In many cases, the final forfeiture orders were made against properties which affected the applicant’s relevancy; the courts were misled into making the final order of forfeiture against the applicator, based on suppression or non-disclosure of material facts,” the application reads.
“The several applications upon which the courts made the final order of forfeiture against the applicator were obtained upon gross misstatements, misrepresentations, non-disclosure, concealment, and suppression of material facts, and thus the court has the power to set aside the same ex-debito justitiae, as a void order is as good as if it was never made at all.”
Diezani further argued that the various court orders on forfeiture were made without the requisite jurisdiction and recourse to her constitutional right to a fair hearing.
The former minister insisted that she was never served with relevant court processes that led to the orders for final forfeiture of her assets, appending that the EFCC was aware she left the country seeking medical treatment since 2015.
“The applicator did not have any access to newspapers circulating within Nigeria during this period as she was not in Nigeria at all material times relevant to this suit,” the application revealed.
“The courts, in granting the final order of forfeiture in a matter that is disclosed to flow from criminal activities and which are criminal in quality, and without any conviction of the applicator, granted the order of final forfeiture on minimum proof based on the civil standards of preponderance of evidence or parity of probability, instead of the strict proof applicable in criminal trials or civil proceedings where there is an allegation of crime.
“Only a court of law can reveal an act as constituting unlawful activities, and there was no such order that had broadcasted the alleged conduct of the applier to be unlawful.
“A mere allegation by the respondent (EFCC) that the act or action of the applier constituted unlawful activities will not suffice in the circumstance.”
She informed the court that she has three suits against the EFCC pending before courts in Lagos, contending that “since the forfeiture orders are being opposed, no sale can validly take place as such sale would be rendered nugatory.”
Meanwhile, the EFCC has filed a counter-affidavit opposing the competence of Diezani’s application.
The affidavit, deposed to by Oyakhilome Ekienabor, a litigation officer, disputed several claims made by the applier.
Ekienabor disclosed the forfeiture orders were not issued in violation of the applicant’s rights to a fair hearing, noting that the properties were disposed of following due process.
“The final forfeiture orders pursuant to which the sale of the properties was conducted are at any rate in magnitude and have not been set aside,” he superposed.
“The forfeited properties were disposed of in homogeneity with the due process of law.”
He further said Diezani was represented during one of the proceedings, even so the court ultimately issued the final forfeiture orders after considering submissions made by her reprove.
At the resumed proceeding in the matter on Monday, Godwin Iyibor, who appeared for the applicator, requested time to file his response to EFCC’s counter-affidavit, which he stated was served on him on March 14.
The judge emphasised the need to expedite the case, considering that it was filed in 2023.
The EFCC’s Counsel, Divine Oguru, apologised for the delay in responding and assured the court of readiness at the next hearing.
“We will be ready to go on in the next adjourned date, my lord,” he disclosed.
The judge adjourned the matter to March 27 for hearing.
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Tag: Reasons Diezani Asks Court To Stop EFCC from Auctioning Her Seized Assets
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Published 3/18/2025