Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to overturn an order that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission issued for the final forfeiture of her seized assets.
In an originating motion, Alison-Madueke requested an extension of time for her application to the court for an order to set aside the EFCC’s public notice to conduct a public sale on her property.
Reports have it that the anti-corruption agency planned to hold a public sale of all of the assets it had seized from Alison-Madueke starting on January 9 in response to a number of court judgments and orders that were issued in favor of the commission as final forfeiture orders against the former minister’s property and personal effects.
However, the motion states: The ex-minister requested five orders from the court in FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023, which was filed on January 6 by her attorney, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN. The EFCC is the only respondent in the suit, despite the fact that Alison-Madueke is the applicant.
These “ought to be set aside ex debito justitiae,” according to the former minister, who argued that the various orders were issued without jurisdiction.
She claimed that she was not afforded a fair hearing in all of the processes that led to the orders.
According to her, “the various court orders issued in favor of the respondent and upon which the respondent issued the public notice to conduct public sale of items contained in 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. “The public notice to conduct public sale of items contained in the public notice was issued in breach of the applicant’s right to fair hearing.”
She argued that she was not served with any summons regarding the criminal charges that were pending against her before the court, including the charge sheet, proof of evidence, or any other summons at all.
She also argued that the courts were deceived into issuing a number of the final forfeiture orders against her assets by hiding important facts or not disclosing them.