“Stop EFCC from selling my seized assets” – Diezani Alison-Madueke appeals to federal high court

• Diezani highlights that she has never been convicted of any crime related to the seized assets, arguing that the sale of her properties is unjust.

Diezani Alison-Madueke, the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, has filed a petition with the Federal High Court in Abuja to prevent the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from auctioning her seized assets.

Her legal representatives, led by Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, claim that the EFCC’s decision to sell her assets, announced in 2023, infringes on her right to a fair hearing. She is also requesting a court order for the return of any properties that have already been sold.

Diezani argues that the EFCC’s actions are based on final forfeiture orders from various courts, which she alleges were obtained through misrepresentation and omission of critical information. She asserts that she was not properly notified or involved in the legal proceedings that led to these orders.

Additionally, she challenges the validity of the forfeiture orders, claiming they were issued under dubious circumstances and should be revoked. Diezani emphasizes that she has not been convicted of any crimes related to the assets in question, asserting that the sale of her properties is unfair.

“In many cases, the final forfeiture orders were made against properties which affected the Applicant’s interest, the courts were misled into making the final order of forfeiture against the Applicant, based on 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 and thus court has the power to set aside same ex-debito justitiae, as a void order is as good as if it was never made at all,” Diezani said in part.