A suit filed by the former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to challenge the order obtained by the EFCC for final forfeiture of her seized assets, was, yesterday, stalled at a Federal High Court, Abuja.
The matter, which was before Justice Inyang Ekwo, was fixed for further mention in the day’s cause list.
However, the case could not proceed because the court did not sit.
Justuce Ekwo was said to be attending a seminar at the National Judicial Institute (NJI) in Abuja.
The matter was subsequently fixed for November 21.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ex-minister had, through his counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), sued the anti-graft agency as sole respondent.
Alison-Madueke, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023, sought an order extending the time to seek leave to apply to the court for an order to set aside the EFCC’s public notice issued to conduct a public sale on her property.
In the motion dated and filed on Jan. 6, 2023 by her lawyer, the former minister sought five orders from the court.
The former minister, who argued that the various orders were made without jurisdiction, said these “ought to be set aside ex debito justitiae.”
She said she was not given a fair hearing in all the proceedings leading to the orders.
“The various court orders issued in favour of the respondent and upon which the respondent issued the public notice 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,” she said.
She argued that she was neither served with the charge sheet and proof of evidence in any of the charges nor any other summons regarding the criminal charges pending against her before the court. She further argued that the courts were misled into making several final forfeiture orders against her assets through suppression or non-disclosure of material facts.
“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,” she said, among other grounds given.
But the EFCC, in a counter-affidavit deposed to by Rufai Zaki, a detective with the commission, urged the court to dismiss her application.
Mr. Zaki, a member of the team that investigated a case of criminal conspiracy, official corruption and money laundering against the ex-minister and some other persons involved in the case, said the investigation had clearly shown that she was involved in some acts of criminality.
He said Mrs. Alison-Madueke was therefore charged before the court in charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018. (NAN)
