A suit filed by the former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to challenge the order obtained by the EFCC for final forfeiture of her seized assets was on Monday stalled at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.

The matter, which was before Justice Inyang Ekwo, was fixed for further mention in the day’s cause list. However, the case could not proceed because the court did not sit.

Justice Ekwo was said to be attending a seminar at the National Judicial Institute (NJI) in Abuja.

The matter was subsequently fixed for November 21.

The ex-minister had sued the anti-graft agency as the sole respondent through her counsel, Mike Ozekhome (SAN).

Ms Alison-Madueke, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023, sought an order extending the time to seek leave to apply to the court for an order to set aside the EFCC’s public notice issued to conduct a public sale on her property.

In the motion dated and filed on January 6, 2023, by her lawyer, the former minister sought five orders from the court.

The former minister argued that the various orders were made without jurisdiction and said these “ought to be set aside ex debito justitiae.”

Ms Alison-Madueke alleged that she was not given a fair hearing in the proceedings leading to the orders.

The former minister argued that she was neither served with the charge sheet and proof of evidence in any of the charges nor any other summons regarding the criminal charges pending against her before the court.

She further argued that the courts were misled into making several final forfeiture orders against her assets through suppression or non-disclosure of material facts.

But the EFCC, in a counter-affidavit deposed to by Rufai Zaki, a detective with the commission, urged the court to dismiss her application.

Mr Zaki, a member of the team that investigated a case of criminal conspiracy, official corruption, and money laundering against the ex-minister and some other persons involved in the case, said the investigation clearly showed that she was involved in some acts of criminality.

He said Ms Alison-Madueke was therefore charged before the court in charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018.

“We hereby rely on the charge FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018 dated November 14, 2018, filed before this honourable court and also attached as Exhibit C in the applicant’s affidavit,” he said.

The EFCC operative said most of the depositions in Ms Alison-Madueke’s suit were untrue.

He said that contrary to her deposition in the affidavit filed in support of the suit, most of the cases, which led to the final forfeiture of the contested property, “were action in rem, same was heard at various times and determined by this honourable court.”

He said the courts ordered the commission to do a newspaper publication inviting parties to show cause why the said property should not be forfeited to the federal government before final orders were made.

Mr Zaki argued that one Nnamdi Awa Kalu represented the ex-minister in reaction to one of the forfeiture applications.

The officer said that contrary to her, the final forfeiture of the assets, which were subject of the present application, was ordered by the court in 2017 and that this was not set aside or upturned on appeal.

According to him, the properties have been disposed of through due process of law.

Justice Ekwo had, on June 21, 2023, fixed October 23, 2023, for the hearing of the suit after a lawyer who appeared for Ms Alison-Madueke, Benson Igbanoi, and EFCC’s counsel, M.D. Baraya regularised their processes in the suit.

The anti-corruption agency had planned to conduct a public sale of all the assets seized for being proceeds of crime as ordered by courts to be permanently forfeited to the federal government.

The auctioning exercise on the seized assets, believed to include Ms Alison-Madueke’s property, started on January 9, 2023.

The suspended chairman of EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, had revealed that $153 million and over 80 properties had been recovered from the ex-minister.

She was alleged to have escaped to the United Kingdom and remained there after her exit from public office as the petroleum minister, an office she held between 2010 and 2015 under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The asset-related suit differs from the one she filed to seek N100 billion as compensation for a series of EFCC’s alleged libellous publications against her.

(NAN)