The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to disregard the acquittal of former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, by a United Kingdom court, arguing that the judgment has no bearing on ongoing forfeiture proceedings involving assets linked to her.
The commission made the submission in a further counter-affidavit filed in opposition to Diezani’s application seeking to tender the June 17 judgment of the Southwark Crown Court in London, which discharged and acquitted her of bribery and corruption allegations.
Justice Inyang Ekwo had, on July 1, granted the former minister permission to present the UK judgment as evidence in the suit.
The EFCC, however, argued that the proceedings before the Southwark Crown Court were unrelated to the Nigerian case and had no effect on the final forfeiture orders under which the disputed assets were disposed of.
The commission stated: “The proceedings before the Southwark Crown Court, London, United Kingdom, and the purported acquittal of the applicant therein, are in respect of a proceeding that is not being prosecuted before any Nigerian court and have nothing to do with the substantive suit before this honourable court.”
The anti-graft agency also urged the court to dismiss Diezani’s application and supplementary affidavit, describing some of the depositions contained in them as misleading.
According to the EFCC, the forfeiture proceedings concern assets covered by final orders of Nigerian courts, which it said remained valid and had not been set aside.
The commission said the properties were sold pursuant to final forfeiture orders issued by Justice C.A. Obiozor of the Federal High Court on July 9, 2019, and another order made by Justice I.N. Oweibo on September 10, 2019.
It added that notices had been published in newspapers inviting interested parties to show cause why the assets should not be forfeited before the final orders were made.
“The final forfeiture orders pursuant to which the sale of the properties was conducted are still in force and have not been set aside. The forfeited properties were disposed of in accordance with due process of law,” the EFCC stated.
Diezani, however, is asking the court to order the EFCC to retrieve properties allegedly sold to third parties.
In the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023 and filed through her counsel, Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, the former minister alleged that the commission commenced the sale of assets linked to her without giving her an opportunity to be heard.
She also contended that several final forfeiture orders were obtained through misrepresentation, suppression and non-disclosure of material facts.
Diezani argued that she had not been convicted of any unlawful activity that would justify the forfeiture of her properties and maintained that the courts lacked jurisdiction to make the orders without hearing her.
She further said she had been outside Nigeria since 2015 while undergoing medical treatment and was not served with relevant court processes.
The former minister also argued that the forfeiture orders were made under the civil standard of proof rather than the stricter standard applicable to criminal allegations.
She said she had three suits pending against the EFCC in Lagos and maintained that the assets should not have been sold while the forfeiture orders were being challenged.
The EFCC, however, said criminal proceedings had been instituted against Diezani in various Nigerian courts following investigations into her activities while she was a public servant.
The commission cited charges including FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018 before the Federal High Court and HC/ADYL/56C/2017 before the Adamawa State High Court.
Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter until November 11 for hearing of the pending applications.
