Diezani Alison-Madueke, former minister of petroleum has sought to amend the suit she filed challenging a final forfeiture order against her assets.
Gatekeepers News reports that counsel to Diezani, Godwin Iyinbor at the court session on Thursday, said he had received a counter affidavit filed by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in opposition to the suit.
Iyinbor also told the court that they had filed a motion to amend their processes and the commission had been duly served.
EFCC however had no legal representation in court when Diezani’s counter affidavit was presented.
Before this, EFCC had issued a notice of its plan to conduct a public sale of all assets seized from Diezani beginning on January 9, 2023.
In the motion marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023, dated and filed January 6, Diezani through her lawyer, Mike Ozekhome argued that all the orders of forfeiture obtained by EFCC were made without jurisdiction of courts and ought to be set aside as a matter of justice.
Diezani said she was not given a fair hearing, notified about the proceedings leading to the orders, or served with court processes.
She said, “The various court orders issued in favour of the respondent and upon which the respondent issued the public notice to conduct a public sale of items contained in the public notice, most of which court the interest of the applicant, 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.”
“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.”
Counsel to EFCC, Rufai Zaki however in a counter affidavit, said Deizani’s claims were “untrue”.
Zaki said investigations showed that Alison-Madueke was involved in some acts of criminality.
He said, “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.”
The EFCC counsel added that contrary to her deposition, most of the cases which led to final forfeiture of the contested property “were action in rem, same was heard at various times and determined by this honourable court.”
Zaki said the courts directed EFC to publish notices in various newspapers, inviting interested parties to explain why the said property should not be forfeited to federal government before final orders were issued.
He argued that one Nnamdi Awa-Kalu represented Diezani in one of the forfeiture applications.
The legal counsel to EFCC added that the order of forfeiture Diezani is challenging was granted in 2017 and that the ex-minister did not appeal it.
The presiding judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo adjourned the case to February 17, 2025nfor hearing on the motion seeking to amend the originating process.
