News
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.
The much-awaited flight on Abuja-London route for Air Peace, the Nigerian-owned entity, which recently began operations on the Lagos-London space, will soon commence as the airline has secured the nod of the Federal Government to go full blast with the operation.
Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, who gave the indication, when he appeared as a guest on Politics Today a current affairs programme on Channels Television, on Thursday, said the competition that would arise from the development was good for not only the industry, but Nigerians, billed to benefit from it.
A palpably upbeat Keyamo, told his host: “Just yesterday (Wednesday), I approved Air Peace for the Abuja-London route, not only Lagos-London route. British Airways also come to Abuja. So, let Air Peace block that path and start a war. It’s all for the good of Nigerians.”
Keyamo, who argued that there was no reason to restrict the Nigerian airline to Gatwick, its current destination, maintained that in time, it would also be flying into Heathrow Airport, acing that the current situation was just a low-hanging fruit and a starting point for now.
In fact, Keyamo, who spoke against the backdrop of many complaints by Allen Onyema, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the airline about attempts to frustrate the operation, stated that Nigeria was currently reviewing its Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) with the UK and Nigeria, to address all issues, adding that some decisions would be made at the conclusion of the review.
On March 30, 2024, Air Peace reciprocated the lopsided Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and the United Kingdom when the local airline began direct flight operations from Lagos to Gatwick Airport in London.
The development has been applauded by many industry observers, with more local airlines being encouraged to commence international flights to profitable routes.
The price of an international flight ticket on the Lagos-London route was as high as N3.5 million, but with Air Peace pegging a return economy class ticket for N1.2 million, foreign airlines such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and Qatar Airways have been forced to slash their prices to stay competitive.
The entrance of Air Peace on the London route has sparked a price war, with foreign carriers now underpricing to stay in business. On this, Keyamo said the government has been observing the unfolding events and would support Air Peace with all federal might.
No fewer than 10 brand new aircrafts have been ordered by the Akwa Ibom State Government, owners of Ibom Air, one of the operators on the Nigerian domestic air business, in what Umo Eno, Governor of the state, said was an effort to expand its operations.
Eno, who was a guest of Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television, on Thursday, was speaking on the efforts the government was making to improve and expand the operations of the entity, the only state-owned airline in the country.
The governor, who said the first batch of the order had since arrived and would soon resume operation after passing all the checks by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), explained that the state was not yet looking at drawing money from the airline but rather reinvesting all profits to expand the airline, he added: “You have to know that Ibom Air keeps expanding. So, for the government, we are not setting up right now to begin to earn naira and kobo. When we make profit, we will put the profit back to keep expanding operations.”
Against the backdrop of an incident involving one of the planes belonging to the airline in Lagos at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos on Thursday, the governor maintained that safety had remained the major priority of the airline, adding that none of its planes was allowed to take off without comprehensive safety checks carried out.
In a post on his X account, a former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Joe Abah, had narrated how a ground engineer saved travellers including himself on an Abuja-bound Ibom Air flight from a “potential disaster.”
Abah, who had narrated how the aircraft was already taxiing before a loud knock from outside by the ground engineer forced the pilot to halt the aircraft, said the ground engineer told the pilot that he could not leave because his landing gear was bad.
But Eno, in a quick riposte, said: “For us in Ibom Air, we do all our checks before the aircraft departs and all of the approvals are always done. So, what you are talking about right now (the Lagos incident), I think it is as a result of the checks they did.
“I don’t have the full details but we will not (allow) the departure of any aircraft if we don’t follow all of the procedures. All the engineers and everyone sign off before the aircraft departs.”
The controversy surrounding the alleged pillaging of a whopping N107billion, raised by Alex Otti against Okezie Ikpeazu, his predecessor, took a new turn on Thursday, with stakeholders in Nigeria’s civil society wading into the matter with a demand for all the documents relating to it.
Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy (CFR&PA), a Pro-democracy, human rights, anti-corruption and public interest advocacy group, in a letter to the governor, who made the mind-boggling revelation, particularly demanded access to the Forensic Audit Report (FAR), detailing the particulars of the said fraud.
The letter, which came under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act, also copied to Kenneth Kalu, Secretary to State Government (SSG) and Ikechukwu Uwanna, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, was signed by Ukpai Ukairo, Member, Board of Trustees, of the group.
Entitled: Application for access to records under the section 1 and 3 of the Freedom of Information Act, the letter dated 23-04-2024, which the group indicated was received, stamped the next day, read: “We respectfully apply for access to the following records, to wit: A copy of the Forensic Audit Report which Governor Alex Otti, the Executive Governor of Abia State referred to and relied upon in his Town Hall Meeting in the United States of America to allege that His Excellency, Victor Okezie Ikpeazu’s administration paid billions of Naira for an airport and to un-named contractors,
“The Letter of appointment of the Audit Firm that carried out the Forensic Audit as required under the Public Procurement Act, The voucher/s showing the payments made to the Audit firm for its professional services, The extract of the minutes of Executive Council Meeting adopting the said Forensic Audit Report.”
Relying on the stipulation of the law, allowing for one week for the documents to be provided, the group, added: “Please, permit us to remind you, that you have seven days, under the Freedom of Information Act, to release the above records to us. Accept the assurances of our highest regards.”
Otti, had Friday, April 19, 2024, at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, in the United States of America told his audience comprising indigenes of the state, residing in the US: “Talking about corruption, I had set up a forensic audit as soon as I took over office in Abia, last year (2023). So that there won’t be any argument, I called in one of the top three audit firms in the world, and not too long ago, they turned in their report, and some of the things in their report are frightening.
“So, some N9.3 billion was paid to seven contractors for contracts that were not executed at all up till today. Another N15.9 billion (N16 billion) was paid to 63 contractors with no supporting documents anywhere in the state. Another N12 billion was paid to two contractors for contracts that do not exist, out of this figure N10 billion was on September 25, 2020, paid to a contractor for the construction of the Abia State Airport.
“We have spent time trying to locate the airport and up till now have not been able to locate it… So, as we continue to look for our airport, we have also told the security agencies to help us search. When you juxtapose that with pensions that were lying unpaid for about 10 years and the salary arrears, just one of these headings, the N10 billion that was spent to build a non-existent airport, was exactly the amount of money our government used to take off the pension arrears.”
FG approves Abuja-London route for Air Peace, reviews BASA pact with UK
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