Court orders temporary forfeiture of properties worth $55m belonging to Kola Aluko

Ebun Francis| A federal high court in Lagos, presided over by Mohammed Linman, a judge, has ordered the temporary forfeiture of three landed properties belonging to Kola Aluko, an associate of the exiled Diezani Alison-Madueke, former minister of petroleum resources.

The judge gave the order following an ex parte application filed by Rotimi Oyedepo, lawyer to EFCC.

The affected properties are located at Plot 1391 Tiamiyu Savage street, Victoria Island, Lagos; Plot 3389 and Plot 3390, house 2, Margaret Thatcher close, Asokoro Cadastral Zone, Abuja and valued at $55 million.

Citing section 17 of the advance fee fraud and other fraud-related offences act no. 14 2016, Oyedepo argued that the court has the power to make such a forfeiture order.

According to him, the funds used to procure the properties were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.

He said, “The properties sought to be attached are reasonably suspected to be proceeds of an unlawful diversion from the federal government of Nigeria.”

“That the respondent’s known and provable lawful income is far less than the properties sought to be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

In the attached affidavit, Sambo Mayana, an operative of EFCC, said the anti-graft agency investigated Aluko after receiving “a damning intelligence report and a petition alleging fraud, lack of transparency and unethical conduct in the transfer of production rights in the oil mining leases against the respondent and his cronies” from Debo Adeniran, executive chairman of the coalition against corrupt leaders

“That there are suspicious financial transactions involving the 1st respondent, KAA and Atlantic Energy Holding Limited based in the British Virgin Island,” Mayana said.

“That the company, in the course of three years, received large suspicious transfers from two sister companies, namely: Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited and Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited, based in Nigeria.”

While adjourning the matter till November 12, the judge, however, directed the anti graft agency to publish the ruling in a national newspaper to enable any interested person to show cause why the properties should not be forfeited permanently to the federal government.