News

Court Grants Diezani Alison-Madueke’s Prayer Challenging Forfeiture Order

Published

9 months ago

February 17, 2025

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday, granted an application by former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to amend her suit challenging the order obtained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for final forfeiture of her seized assets.

Justice Inyang Ekwo granted the request after the motion was moved by Diezani’s lawyer, Godwin Inyinbor, and the EFCC’s counsel, Divine Oguru, did not oppose it.

When the matter was called, Inyinbor, who appeared for Diezani, informed the court that they had already filed a motion for amendment of their originating process and the defendant had been duly served.

Oguru did not raise any objection to the ex-minister’s plea to amend her suit and Justice Ekwo granted it as prayed.

The judge, who gave Diezani five days to file and serve the amended processes, granted EFCC 14 days from the date of service to respond.

The matter was then adjourned until March 17 for further mention.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Ekwo had, on Nov. 21, 2024, fixed today for hearing the motion to amend the originating process.

NAN reports that the ex-minister had, through his counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, sued the anti-graft agency as sole respondent.

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 Jan. 6, 2023 by her lawyer, the former minister sought five orders from the court.

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

She said she was not given a fair hearing in all the proceedings leading to the orders.

“The various court orders issued in favour of the respondent and upon which the respondent issued the public notice were issued in breach of the applicant’s right to fair hearing as guaranteed by Section 36 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, as altered, and other similar constitutional provisions,” she said.

She 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.

“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.

”The 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.

“The orders were made without recourse to the constitutional right to fair hearing and right to property accorded the applicant by the constitution.

“The applicant was never served with the processes of court in all the proceedings that led to the order of final forfeiture,” she said, among other grounds given.

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 had clearly shown that she was involved in some acts of criminality.

He said Mr s 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 14 November 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 Mrs Alison-Madueke’s suit were untrue.

He said 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.

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

“We humbly rely on the judgment of Hon. Justice I.LN. Oweibo dated 10th September, 2019 shown in Exhibit C of the applicant’s affidavit,” he said.

The officer said contrary to her, the final forfeiture of the assets, which were subject to 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.

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, conducted on the seized assets believed to include Alison-Madueke’s property, started on Jan. 9, 2023.

The suspended chairman of EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, had revealed that $153 million and over 80 property 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 is different from the one she also filed to seek N100 billion as compensation for a series of EFCC’s alleged libellous publications against her.

(NAN)

News

Account For N3tn Or Face Legal Action, SERAP Tells CBN

Published

9 hours ago

November 16, 2025

Editor

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has given the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, a seven-day ultimatum to account for what it described as “missing or diverted N3 trillion of public funds” cited in the 2022 annual report of the Auditor-General of the Federation.

SERAP said the allegations, published on September 9, 2025, point to major breaches of financial regulations and constitutional provisions.

It urged Cardoso to identify individuals responsible for the alleged diversions and hand them over to the ICPC and EFCC, as well as recover all funds involved.

In a letter dated November 15 and signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said the Auditor-General’s findings “suggest grave violations of the public trust, the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the CBN Act, and anticorruption standards.”

The group also warned that the alleged violations undermine public confidence in the apex bank.

“These violations have seriously undermined the ability of the CBN to effectively discharge its statutory functions and the public trust and confidence in the bank,” it said.

According to SERAP’s summary of the report, the Auditor-General queried the non-remittance of over N1.4tn operating surplus, failure to recover N629bn paid to “unknown beneficiaries” under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, and the non-recovery of N784bn in overdue intervention loans.

One of the key portions of the Auditor-General’s report quoted by SERAP states that the CBN “failed to remit over N1 trillion [N1,445,593,400,000.00] of ‘the Federal Government’s portion of operating surplus’ into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account.”

He also raised concerns over the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, noting that “the numbers of beneficiaries who collected the money are unknown.”

The report further questioned intervention spending, with the Auditor-General saying the bank spent “over N125 billion [N125,374,000,000.00] ‘on questionable intervention activities’” without supporting documents.

SERAP added that the CBN spent over N1.7bn on operational vehicles for the Nigeria Immigration Service, noting the Auditor-General’s remark that the spending was “unjustified because there is no connection with buying operational vehicles for the NIS and the objectives of the CBN.”

The organisation reminded the CBN of its constitutional obligations and insisted that Nigerians “have the right to know the whereabouts of the public funds.”

SERAP said it would take legal action if the bank fails to respond within seven days.

News

Ekweremadu: S’East Leaders Divided Over Planned Transfer To Nigerian Prison

Published

9 hours ago

November 16, 2025

Editor

Leaders of top south-eastern groups have expressed divided opinions over the move of the Federal Government to transfer a former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, from a United Kingdom correctional facility to a Nigerian custodial centre.

While some queried the plan which they said was meant to boost President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election chances, others said motives did not matter.

The embattled senator was convicted in the UK for organ trafficking.

Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, were arrested by the London Metropolitan Police in June 2022 after a man was presented as a cousin to their daughter, Sonia, in an attempt to facilitate a kidney transplant for her.

The incident led to their conviction under the UK Modern Slavery Act in 2023.

While Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison, his wife received four years and six months jail term.

Beatrice was released earlier this year and has since returned to Nigeria.

However, President Bola Tinubu sent a high-level delegation to London to discuss the case of the former Deputy Senate President.

According to The PUNCH, the Federal Government was seeking arrangements that would allow Ekweremadu to serve the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria.

The delegation, led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, met with officials of the UK Ministry of Justice to discuss Ekweremadu’s incarceration and the possibility of allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria.

Following the meeting, the delegation visited the Nigerian High Commission in London, where the Acting High Commissioner, Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu, received them.

Speaking on the matter with The PUNCH, the President of the Igbo National Council, Chilos Godsent, questioned the motive and timing of the government’s request, warning against what he described as “political manipulation” or “vendetta” disguised as compassion.

He accused former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration of failing to protect Ekweremadu during his legal ordeal in the UK.

Godsent argued that the negligence allowed British authorities to try a sitting senator of the Federal Republic.

He said, “There is one thing that is really not clear: are they bringing him back to Nigeria to set him free or bringing him back to put him on trial, or to let him continue his jail term? These things are not really clear.

“That is why people are sceptical that he can be brought back and then, as part of political vendetta, he might be retried, which is not proper. It is better to allow him to serve his term in the UK, where he was found guilty. Why this time, why this election period? It is because they want to use him to play politics.

“Earlier, if the government had put in efforts for him as a citizen of this country to compel the British government, there wouldn’t have been any need for the UK government to try him as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria when this issue took place. That was negligence on the part of the Nigerian government.”

While commending Tinubu for what they described as a “laudable” plan if the intention was to reintegrate Ekweremadu with his family and community, he cautioned that any attempt to use his return for political ends would be condemned.

He raised doubts about the independence of the Nigerian judiciary, expressing fears that Ekweremadu could become a victim of political retribution if transferred at this time.

Similarly, the President of the Ala-Igbo Development Foundation, Prof. Awuzie Unachukwu, questioned the government’s motive.

He said, “If it is appreciated that Senator Ekweremadu should come back having paid his dues for his offence, why does this same government shy away from releasing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who was only asking for self-determination for the Igbos?

“Nnamdi Kanu deserves immediate release if the action of the government in asking for the return of Senator Ike Ekweremadu is not political or a means of mobilising some influential Igbos like Senator Ekweremadu for the President’s 2027 second-term ambition.”

He commended President Tinubu for initiating steps toward the repatriation of the embattled senator. Unachukwu said: “However, he shouldn’t bring him back to Nigeria to serve a jail term in this dungeon of a prison. He suffered for his crime enough. If he is coming back to Nigeria, it shouldn’t be for a jail term,” Unachukwu added.

But the Deputy President General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said the move was not politically motivated.

Isiguzoro stated, “Ohanaeze is supporting the President and we are at the forefront to ensure that the President repatriates and rehabilitates him. He is a political leader. The President doesn’t hate the Igbo people. Ekweremadu was instrumental to the release of Nnamdi Kanu in 2017.”

“The senator has paid his dues in the region and to Igbo nation. That move is being applauded by us. Ohanaeze will not tolerate anybody who stands to block this move. If the President thinks bringing Ekweremadu will help him stabilise his re-election in 2027, the South-East has no choice than to support. We must be devoid of politics in issues that regard to ethnic nationalities in Nigeria.”

Expressing a similar opinion, the Abia State Peoples Democratic Party Chairman, Abraham Amah, said there was nothing wrong with any administration taking steps it considered appropriate in the interest of justice, humanitarian consideration, or national responsibility.

He stated that Buhari’s inaction did not invalidate Tinubu’s decision to do so now.

Amah added that governance was a continuum, and each administration exercised its judgment based on the realities before it.

“The insinuation that the move is driven by politics does not, by itself, make the action improper or undesirable. In matters like this, motives will always be debated, but what ultimately matters is whether the action aligns with national interest, compassion, and due process.

“What is important here is that a Nigerian citizen who has served the country at the highest legislative levels is in a difficult situation, and if the current government believes it can intervene within the confines of the law and diplomatic norms, there is no justification to condemn such an effort,” he said.

Also, the President-General of the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, Goodluck Ibem, expressed support for the government to facilitate the return of the embattled senator, saying his return was crucial for the rule of law in the country.

He said, “This move is not just about a singular individual; it is about fostering a sense of justice and integrity that resonates deeply within our community. The people of the South East are committed to a future where justice prevails, and we stand firmly behind the Federal Government in its efforts to uphold these values.

“We urge all stakeholders and members of the public to focus on the broader implications of this process. Our collective goal should be the restoration of justice and creating a political environment founded on transparency and accountability.”

FG to revive Nigeria–UK prisoner transfer programme

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has begun fresh efforts to revive the long-stalled Nigeria–United Kingdom prisoner transfer programme, as part of diplomatic consultations to repatriate Ekweremadu.

Ekweremadu’s case reopened talks about the 2014 Nigeria–UK Prisoner Transfer Agreement, which has remained unimplemented more than a decade after it was signed.

The agreement, signed under former President Goodluck Jonathan and then UK Prime Minister David Cameron, was intended to allow convicted nationals to serve their sentences in their home countries.

To support its implementation, the UK funded the construction of a £700,000, 112-bed wing at the Kirikiri Custodial Centre in Lagos, compliant with United Nations standards.

Despite these arrangements, no prisoner has been transferred under the scheme.

The spokesperson for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alkasim AbdulKadir, on Monday told Arise News that discussions with UK authorities to extradite Ekweremadu were still ongoing.

He revealed that a formal request had been submitted for Ekweremadu’s transfer under the existing prisoner exchange framework.

News

Tinubu Set To Name Envoys – Presidency Sources

Published

10 hours ago

November 16, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu is set to appoint ambassadors to the country’s foreign missions in major countries in the coming weeks, top presidency sources have said.

The move comes amid growing public concern that the prolonged absence of substantive envoys has weakened the country’s diplomatic presence abroad, particularly in key strategic countries like the United States amid the alleged Christian genocide row.

Tinubu had in September 2023 recalled all envoys from Nigeria’s missions in 76 embassies, 22 high commissions, and 11 consulates across the world to reassess the country’s foreign policy.

However, the process of appointing new ambassadors has suffered multiple delays more than two years into the current administration.

In the absence of substantive envoys, the missions have since been overseen by chargés d’affaires or senior consular officers.

In April 2025, sources close to the President told The PUNCH that the Federal Government had concluded the vetting of persons nominated to fill the ambassadorial roles, including security and background checks by the relevant agencies.

Tinubu had previously blamed the delay on the complex political considerations involved in making such appointments.

“I couldn’t appoint everybody at once and thank you for your patience. I still have some slots for ambassadorial positions that so many people are craving for. But it’s not easy stitching those names,” he said in September while receiving members of The Buhari Organisation at the Presidential Villa.

Last week, multiple presidency officials said the President had ordered a “final cleanup” of the list ahead of its release.

One of the officials explained that since the President sent the list to the Senate, some people on the list had died, while some were no longer eligible for appointment due to retirement.

The official said the need for cleanup prompted the Upper Chamber to return the envoy list to the presidency.

Speaking in separate interviews with The PUNCH, top aides privy to the process confirmed that the cleanup was in its final stage and that only envoys for major countries would be appointed.

“The final process is almost completed. The President is committed to making the appointments, and the announcement will come in the next few weeks. I wouldn’t want to specify two. However, only ambassadors to major countries will be appointed,” a source said.

Another senior presidency source said the list would be released before the end of November.
But he declined to give the specific date of the release.

“The President has said they should clean up the list. I’m sure before the end of the month, it should be ready. There’s no point speculating. When it is ready, it will be officially announced,” the official said.

Allocations without envoys

It was gathered that part of the delay in the appointments was linked to the paucity of funds, estimated at $1bn, needed to pay foreign service officials’ arrears, clear backlog of overheads, replace ageing vehicles and renovate embassy buildings.

Earlier in the year, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, also confirmed the funding constraints, warning that posting envoys without adequate operational resources would be counterproductive.

To address the funding gap, the Federal Government earmarked N2.1bn in the 2025 budget for the posting and return entitlements of ambassadors and officers.

According to The PUNCH, another N53bn was proposed for the renovation of 103 foreign missions, covering chanceries, staff quarters, ambassadors’ residences, office furniture and official vehicles.

The proposed allocations included N554m for Abidjan, N812m for Banjul, N555m for Brazzaville, N558m for Port of Spain, N576m for Caracas, N624m for Kingston, N567m for Libreville, N409m for Buenos Aires and N899m for Niamey, among others.

A letter, dated July 3, 2025, from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, also revealed that the Tinubu administration released a total of $54m to support the operations of the country’s 103 embassies and high commissions.

According to the document, $46.14m was allocated for overhead costs, $9.58m for personnel costs, and $282,829 for other expenses.

However, with the year running out and no substantive ambassadors appointed, there are growing public concerns over what will become of the budgeted allocations for the missions still operating without confirmed envoys.

In October, the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs summoned Tuggar, and Heads of Missions to appear before it over the utilisation of funds appropriated to Nigeria’s foreign missions in 2025.

The committee, in a letter dated July 24, 2025, and signed by its Chairman, Oluwole Oke, invoked Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to demand detailed records on how the funds were spent by the various missions.

The Oke-led committee had earlier in the year begun probing a contract scandal involving the alleged mismanagement of $2m earmarked for the renovation of Nigeria’s Permanent Representative’s residence at the United Nations headquarters in New York.