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Diezani fights back! Demands return of properties in suit against EFCC
Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum has launched an intensive legal battle to regain her multi-million money worth properties seized last year by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which had been on her case since she exited office in 2015.
Last year, the EFCC had obtained a final forfeiture of properties in Nigeria and abroad allegedly linked to the Bayelsa-born former Minister, believed to be one of the most influential personalities in the government of former President, Goodluck Jonathan.
Alison-Madueke, who had since relocated to London, where she has been living, since the anti-graft commission launched efforts to get her answer questions over some infractions in office, began what is seen as a fight back, in a suit she filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja through Mike Ozekhome (SAN), her lawyer demanding, among others, an order extending the time within which to seek leave to apply to the court for an order to set aside the public notice issued by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to conduct the public sale on her property.
Stating that the motion intended to halt the notice recently issued by the EFCC for disposal of forfeited assets, some of which included those belonging to her, she noted, in a supporting affidavit, that the EFCC planned to conduct a public sale of all forfeited, beginning from January 9 as contained in its public notice following various court judgments/orders issued in favour of the commission as final forfeiture orders against property and personal effects linked to her.
In the motion, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023, in which she is seeking five reliefs, she argued among others that she was not heard before the orders for forfeiture were issued, thereby denying her the right to fair hearing.
Stressing that the forfeiture orders made in respect of assets linked with her were issued by the various courts without jurisdiction, she said: “The various court orders issued in favour of the respondent (EFCC) and upon which the respondent issued the public notice to conduct public sale of items contained in the public notice, most of which affect the interest of the applicant, 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.”
Besides, she notified the court that she was neither served with the charge sheet and proof of evidence in any of the charges nor any other summons howsoever and whatsoever in respect of the criminal charges pending against her before the court, adding that the courts were misled into making several of the 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.
“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,” the court papers, said.
But in its counter affidavit, the EFCC faulted her arguments, noting that, not only was she represented in some of the proceedings, publications were made in the media to alert interested parties about pending forfeiture applications.
An EFCC official, Rufai Zaki, who claimed to be part of the team that investigated a case of criminal conspiracy, official corruption and money laundering against her and some others involved in the case, said investigation showed that she was involved in some acts of criminality.
Zaki stated that, following the findings of his team, Mrs. Alison-Madueke was charged before the Federal High court in a charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018.
“We hereby rely on the charge FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018 dated 14th November, 2018 filed before this honourable court and also attached as Exhibit C in the applicant’s affidavit,” he said, adding that contrary to the ex-Minister’s claims, most of the cases leading to the final forfeiture of the contested property “were action in rem, same were heard at various times and determined by the court.”
He said the courts differently ordered the commission to do newspaper publications, inviting interested parties to show cause why the said property should not be forfeited to the Federal Government before final orders were made, recalling that one Nnamdi Awa Kalu represented the ex-minister in the hearing of one of such forfeiture applications.
He added that not only was the order for the forfeiture of the effected properties made since 2017, and was not set aside on appeal, the assets in question have since been disposed of through due process of law.
At the mention of the case on Monday, the lawyer to Mrs. Alison-Madueke Oluchi Uche, told the court that her client was served EFFC’s response (counter affidavit) to her client’s motion last Friday. Uche urged the court to allow her client adequate time to respond to the counter affidavit.
EFCC’s lawyer, Farouk Abdullah, did not oppose, following which Justice Inyang Ekwo adjourned till May 8 for hearing.
I’m the only governor that local government chairmen will come and abuse and I’ll and I’ll say I wish them well. God does not make mistatkes. But even if it was a mistake, by the special grace of God, I’m here today. And let me appeal to them, may they continue to make mistake.”
These were the exact words with which Siminalayi Fubara, Governor of Rivers State, replied Nyesom Wike, his predecessor in office and now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with whom he has been at loggerheads since last year.
In what is interpreted as a direct riposte to Wike’s claim last weekend that his bringing Fubara on board as his successor, for which he courted enmity among his political friends in the state, was a mistake, which would be rectified in due course, the governor had regretted that all his efforts to make peace seemed to have failed.
It was also a day the governor indicated that he had pulled off the gloves for a hard-knuckle fight with the former governor, by hinting of plans to set up a judicial panel of inquiry to investigate how the affairs of governance were conducted in the state before he assumed office on May 29, 2023.
Fubara, who spoke while swearing in Dagogo Israel Iboroma (SAN), as the new Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of the State (AGS-CoJ) at Government House, Port Harcourt said he was bringing the Attorney-General on board at a critical time that there were lots of legal matters that needed to be tackled, with bravery and courage.
His word: “So, my brother, Dagogo Iboroma, you are going to be the brand new Attorney-General of our dear State. SSG (Secretary to the State Government) give him his letter, he is the Attorney-General. Why are we bringing you at this very critical time? We have a lot of issues around us. We believe that you are not going to be the one that when they send service to you, you go and file “nolle prosequi” or you go and file one thing that would kill us here.
“Let me also say this, you have a big task. We will be setting up a judicial panel of inquiry to investigate the affairs of governance. So, brace up, I am not going back on it. Please, defend us. We know that you are going to defend us because your record is clean. You are a gentleman and peaceful. You are not a noise maker. People like you are endowed, and they have the fear of God.
“I am happy that this is happening today to mark the beginning of a new era in our administration. When I said that I had a reason for being patient, it is because I know that we are all from one family. And if we have a disagreement, no matter how bad it is, it should be resolved amicably.
“But it has become very clear that this disagreement, there is no way to resolve it amicably. And for a lot of reasons, there are visible evidence that there is sabotage, deliberate attempt to sabotage this administration. For that reason, we have to move forward. And, moving forward, if it means taking decisions that are going to hurt anybody, we are not going back.”
Berating Zaccheaus Adangor, Iboroma’s predecessor as AGS whom he accused of indulging in sabotaging the same administration he served, Fubara, said: “It is good that you were already a SAN before your appointment. This means that you’re a very thorough lawyer and has earned your appointment. Not like the one we had here, who while in office, they went to pay money to get SAN. When you become a SAN, the only thing you will do is to sabotage government.
“Instead of you to close your mouth, you go publicly to claim that you are a learned person. But go publicly to tell people that you were the Chief Law Officer. Chief Law Officer? You were here and you went to stand before a Magistrate Court. At that time, you didn’t remember that you were a Chief Law Officer, going against the ethics of your job. Like I said, you will get your reward, not in the next world, but in this world.”
Lead British International School, Gwarinpa, Abuja, at the centre of a recent bullying incident, may have to cough out a whopping N500million if the action by the family of Namitra Bwala, whose daughter was seen being slapped and pushed around by some other students of the school succeeds with their demands.
The Bwalas have approached a Federal High Court (FCT), sitting in Abuja, with the demand for the monetary damages, in a civil suit instituted against the school, weeks after a video, which went viral, surfaced in public, showing their daughter in dire stress in the hands of her tormentors.
The outrage elicited by the incident led to the temporary closure of the school by the management, which announced that it had commenced an investigation into the matter while one Maryam, the main culprit, in a separate video, publicly apologised to the victim for bullying her.
Regardless, the family which seems not pacified by the steps, is going further to press for monetary compensation, going by the suit at court, dated May 9, marked FCT/HC/CV/2341/24, where the student is also demanding a public apology that should be published in two national dailies from the school.
The N500million in general damages is being demanded from the school for “failing in its obligation to provide a safe and conducive learning environment for their daughter, the document, said adding that the institution was also liable, having “failed to prevent the assault, inform her parent immediately, and carry out an investigation until the video became viral on social media.”
Besides, the family is also asking for: “A declaration that the Defendant’s failure to prevent the assault, torment, emotional distress, pain, and trauma suffered by the claimant while under the custody and supervision of the defendant amounts to negligent conduct on the part of the defendant.
“A declaration that the defendant’s failure to immediately inform the claimant’s parents of the assault and emotional trauma suffered by the claimant while under the custody and supervision of the defendant amounts to negligent conduct on the part of the defendant.
“An order directing the Defendant to issue a public apology to the Claimant in two national daily newspapers. An order directing the Defendant to pay the Claimant the sum of N500,000,000.00 (Five Hundred Million Naira) as general damages for the Defendant’s breach of the duty of care it owes to the Claimant, and its negligent conduct in failing to prevent the assault, torment, emotional distress, pain, trauma and breach of privacy suffered by the Claimant while under the Defendant’s custody and supervision. The cost of this suit at N5,000,000 (Five Million Naira).
“An order directing the Defendant to pay the Claimant post-judgment interest on the sum(s) awarded at the rate of 10% per annum from the date of the delivery of judgment until the judgment is fully and finally settled and such orders or other orders as this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.”
Are Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2023 and Peter Obi, his Labour Party (LP), counterpart, coming back together to re-enact their joint ticket in the 2019, edition, where they ran against Muhammadu Buhari, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), or is there something else cooking between the two?
This has remained the question on the lips of Nigerians as a picture of the pair was released on Monday, after Obi was said to have visited the former VP, to whom he teamed up as the running mate in the February 23, 2019 presidential election, in which Buhari was declared winner, was released by Atiku.
Sharing the picture in which he was seen in a warm handshake with Obi, former Governor of Anambra State on his verified X handle, Atiku, believed to still be eyeing the Presidency for a record eight times, wrote: “It was my honour and privilege to host
@PeterObi today.”
Contrary to the belief in certain quarters that Obi’s exit from the PDP in May 2022, was fuelled by the ambition of the former VP, Atiku’s camp, has insisted that it was actually Nyesom Wike, former Governor of Rivers State, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), that actually forced him out of the party.
Paul Ibe, spokesman of Atiku, who maintained that his boss was in agreement that the Presidency should be zoned to the South in 2023, insisted that it must be zoned to the South East particularly, but that the insistence of Wike, and others outside the zoned, left him with no choice to throw his hat in the ring.
He told Seun Okinbaloye’s Mic On podcast released on Saturday: “Atiku did not force Peter Obi out of the party. Wike was instrumental in the exit of Obi because Wike had promoted the zoning of the presidency to the South.
“Atiku Abubakar had said that he was prepared to get himself off the ticket if the party zoned the ticket to the Southeast. Wike frustrated that effort because he believed that if it was zoned to the south, not the South East, he would be in the best position to be able to get the ticket.”
May you make more mistakes, Fubara mocks Wike *Moves to probe ex-gov
BREAKING: Abuja school to cough out N500million compensation for bullied girl
Another tag-team? Notions, as Obi, Atiku, meet in Abuja
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