A federal high court in Lagos on Wednesday ordered interim forfeiture of an estate in banana Island belonging to Mrs. Alison Dieziani Madueke, Nigeria’s former minister of Petroleum Resources which she acquired for the sum of $37.5m in 2013.
The property is located at Building 3, Block B, Bella Vista Plot 1, Zone N, Federal Government Layout, Banana Island Foreshore Estate, has 24 apartments, 18 flats, and six penthouses.
The court equally ordered the interim forfeiture of $3.7m allegedly looted by Dezian while she was a minister.
Apart from the property, the court also ordered the temporary forfeiture of the sums of $2,740,197.96 and N84,537,840.70, said to be part of the rent collected on the property.
The funds were said to have been found in a Zenith Bank account number 1013612486.
Justice Chuka Obiozor ordered the temporary forfeiture on Wednesday, following an ex parte application to that effect brought before him by a counsel for the EFCC, Mr. Anselem Ozioko.
Arguing EFCC’s case on Wednesday, Anselem Ozioko the lawyer for the agency said the properties were bought with the proceeds of crime.
The lawyer said investigations by the EFCC revealed that Diezani made the $37.5m payment for the purchase of the property in cash, adding that the money was moved straight from her house in Abuja and paid into the seller’s First Bank account in Abuja.
He said ”Nothing could be more suspicious than someone keeping such huge amounts in her apartment. Why was she doing that? To avoid attention.”
“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.”
The ex parte application taken before the judge was filed pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, No. 14, 2006 and Section 44(2)(k) of the Constitution.
Listed as respondents in the application were Diezani; a legal practitioner, Afamefuna Nwokedi; and a company, Rusimpex Limited.
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.