Federal High Court in Lagos has
ordered the interim forfeiture of a property on Banana Island, Lagos
bought for $37.5m in 2013 by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources,
Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Justice Chuka Obiozor, a vacation
judge, made the order yesterday following an ex parte application by
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) counsel Mr. Anselem
Ozioko.
The EFCC, in documents filed in
court, described the property as Building 3, Block B, Bella Vista Plot 1, Zone
N, Federal Government Layout, Banana Island Foreshore Estate. It has 24
apartments, 18 flats and six penthouses.
The court also ordered the temporary
forfeiture 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 bank account.
Ozioko had told the judge that
the EFCC reasonably suspected that the property was acquired with proceeds of
Alison-Madueke’s alleged unlawful activities.
He said the EFCC’s investigation
revealed that the former minister made the $37.5m payment for the property in
cash, adding that the money was moved straight from her house in Abuja and paid
into the seller’s account in Abuja.
Ozioko added: “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 doubt because as of the time this happened, Mrs. Diezani
Alison-Madueke was still in public service as the Minister of Petroleum
Resources.”
The application 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 are Mrs Alison-Madueke, a legal practitioner, Afamefuna Nwokedi,
and a company, Rusimpex Limited.
In a 41-paragraph affidavit
attached to the application, an EFCC investigative officer, Abdulrasheed Bawa,
averred that Nwokedi, in connivance with Mrs Alison-Madueke, incorporated
Rusimpex Limited, on September 11, 2013 to facilitate the alleged fraud scheme.
According to Bawa, when Nwokedi
was questioned by the EFCC, the lawyer explained that he had approached the
former minister for opportunities in the oil and gas industry but the
ex-minister told him that being a lawyer, she did not have any such opportunity
for him.
She allegedly asked him whether
he could in the alternative manage landed properties, an offer which Nwokedi
accepted.
Bawa stated that Nwokedi
registered Rusimpex Limited at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). A lawyer
in his law firm, Adetula Ayokunle, and a Russian, Vladmir Jourauleu, were
listed as the directors of the company. The address of Nwokedi’s law firm in
Ikoyi, Lagos was registered as the business address of Rusimpex Limited.
The investigator added that when
Ayokunle was questioned by the EFCC, he explained that he only signed the CAC
documents on his boss’ instruction. Jourauleu denied knowledge of the firm.
Bawa said: “Sometime in 2013, the
former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, invited
Barrister Afamefuna Nwokedi, the Principal Counsel of Stillwaters Law Firm, to
her house in Abuja for a meeting where she informed the said Barrister
Afamefuna Nwokedi to incorporate a company and use same as a front to manage
landed properties on her behalf without using her name in any of the
incorporation documents.
“She further directed Mr.
Afamefuna Nwokedi to meet with Mr. Bisi Onasanya, the Group Managing Director
of First Bank of Nigeria Plc for that purpose.
“Mr. Stephen Onasanya was invited
by the commission and he came and volunteered an extrajudicial statement
wherein he stated that he marketed a property at Bella Vista, Banana Island,
Ikoyi, Lagos, belonging to Mr. Youseff Fattau of Ibatex Nigeria Limited to Mrs.
Diezani Alison-Madueke and Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke later bought the
property from Mr. Youseff Fattau, through her lawyer, Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi
(who she introduced to him) and that payment for the said property was made
through the Abuja office of First Bank of Nigeria Plc.
“First Bank of Nigeria Plc,
through Mr. Barau Muazu, wrote to the commission and also volunteered an
extrajudicial statement in writing that they made the payments totalling
US37,500,000 to Ibatex Nigeria Limited & YF Construction Development and
Real Estate Limited on behalf of Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and that they
collected the entire cash from Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke at her residence of
No. 10, Fredrick Chiluba Close of Jose Marti Street, Asokor, Abuja and paid
into the First Bank of Nigeria Plc accounts of Ibatex and YF Construction
Development and Real Estate Limited on her instruction.”
After listening to Ozioko,
Justice Obiozor ordered temporary seizure of the property and the funds.
He directed that the order should
be published in a national newspaper.
Justice Obiozor adjourned till
August 7 for anyone interested in the property and funds to appear before him.
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