A former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been ordered to forfeit two of her Abuja properties and two luxury cars to the Federal Government.
According to The PUNCH, the verdict was given by Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday.
The two properties, with respective market values of $2,674,418 and N380m, are situated at Plot 1854 Mohammed Mahashir Street and No. 6, Aso Drive in Abuja’s affluent Asokoro and Maitama Districts.
The judge issued the order forfeiting the assets to the Federal Government while ruling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s motion for final forfeiture of the assets in suits No. 1122/2021 and No. 1123/2021.
According to a statement issued by the EFCC on Monday, the commission secured the interim forfeiture of the assets on November 29, 2021, in a ruling on a separate motion ex-parte filed on September 27, 2021, which prayed the court to order the interim forfeiture of the assets on the grounds of reasonable suspicion that they were proceeds of unlawful activities.
The statement read, “In granting the interim forfeiture order, Justice Olajuwon had ordered the EFCC to publish a notice in a national newspaper, inviting anyone with an interest in the assets to show the reason why they should not be finally forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria. The court consequently adjourned till January 22, 2022, for a report.
“In compliance with the order of the court, the forfeiture order was published in Thisday Newspaper of Wednesday, April 6, 2022. In the absence of any contestation of the interim order, the court today forfeited the properties to the Federal Government.”