Court orders interim seizure of property linked to Diezani

A federal high court in Lagos has ordered the temporary forfeiture of a Banana Island estate belonging to former minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke .

The court also ordered the temporary forfeiture of $3.7m in a Zenith bank account allegedly owned by the former minister.

The order followed an ex parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) seeking forfeiture of the assets.

Anselem Ozioko, the EFCC counsel who filed the application, alleged that the money used for the purchase of the property was laundered.

“Nothing could be more suspicious than someone keeping such huge amounts in her apartment. Why was she doing that? To avoid attention,” he told the court.

“We are convinced beyond reasonable doubts because, as of the time this happened, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke was still in public service as the minister of petroleum resources.”

After listening to his submission, Chuka Obiozor, the judge, gave a temporary order for the forfeiture of the property and the money to the government. He then adjourned till August 7 for anyone to a make case for the assets.

 

last week Naija News reported that the US government has filed a suit to recover $144 million in assets which were purportedly acquired with proceeds from a shady scheme in Nigeria’s oil industry.