A federal high court in Abuja has granted Diezani Alison-Madueke, the former minister of petroleum, permission to amend her lawsuit challenging the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) final forfeiture order on her seized assets.
Justice Inyang Ekwo approved the request on Monday following a motion filed by Diezani’s lawyer, Godwin Inyinbor. The EFCC’s counsel, Divine Oguru, did not object to the amendment.
Ekwo directed Diezani to file and serve the revised suit within five days while giving the EFCC 14 days to respond. The case was adjourned to March 17 for further proceedings.
The EFCC had announced plans to publicly auction all assets seized from Diezani starting January 9, 2023. In response, she filed a motion (FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023) through her lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, arguing that the forfeiture orders were issued without proper jurisdiction and should be overturned.
Diezani contended that she was neither notified nor granted a fair hearing before the orders were issued. She claimed that the courts ruled in the EFCC’s favor without her knowledge and that the orders were based on misrepresentations and suppression of key facts.
“The orders violated my right to fair hearing and property, as guaranteed under Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution,” she stated. “The court has the power to set aside void orders, as if they were never issued.”
