The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has requested the Federal High Court in Abuja to discountenance the acquittal of former Petroleum Resources Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, by a United Kingdom tribunal. The anti-graft agency maintained that the foreign judgment holds no legal bearing on the pending proceedings regarding the forfeiture of assets tied 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.
However, the EFCC maintained that the proceedings in the UK had no bearing on the Nigerian case or the final forfeiture orders upon which the disputed assets were disposed of.
The anti-graft agency said: “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 commission also urged the court to dismiss the application and the supplementary affidavit filed by the former minister, describing some of the depositions as misleading.
According to the EFCC, the forfeiture proceedings relate to assets covered by final orders of Nigerian courts, adding that the orders remained valid and had not been set aside.
It said the sale of the properties was conducted pursuant to final forfeiture orders made by Justice C.A. Obiozor of the Federal High Court on July 9, 2019, and another order issued by Justice I.N. Oweibo on September 10, 2019. The commission said it had also published notices in newspapers inviting interested persons 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, has asked the court to order the EFCC to retrieve properties allegedly sold to third parties.
In the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023, filed through her counsel, Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, she alleged that the commission commenced the sale of assets linked to her without affording her fair hearing.
She contended that several final forfeiture orders were obtained through misrepresentation, suppression and non-disclosure of material facts.
The former minister further argued that she had never been convicted of any unlawful activity to justify the forfeiture of her properties, insisting that the courts lacked jurisdiction to make the orders without hearing her.
She also claimed that she had been outside Nigeria since 2015 while undergoing medical treatment and was not served with relevant court processes.
Diezani argued that the forfeiture orders were made on 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.
It cited charges including FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018 and HC/ADYL/56C/2017, filed before the Federal High Court and Adamawa State High Court respectively.
Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter until November 11 for hearing of the pending applications.
