THE GUARDIAN
A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed October 23, 2023, to hear a suit filed by former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
In the suit, Alison-Madueke is challenging the order obtained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the final forfeiture of her seized assets.
The date was fixed by Justice Inyang Ekwo after Alison-Madueke‘s counsel Benson Igbanoi, and EFCC’s counsel, regularised their processes in the suit.
EFCC had planned to conduct a 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 auctioning exercise, conducted on the seized assets believed to include Alison-Madueke’s property, started on January 9.
It was alleged that she ran to the United Kingdom and stayed there after her exit from public office as the petroleum minister.
She was petroleum minister between 2010 and 2015 under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
In her suit, she 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 the public sale on her property.
She argued that the various orders were made without jurisdiction, and said these “ought to be set aside”.
She said she was not given a fair hearing in all the proceedings leading to the orders.
