A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of a vacant plot of land situated at Plot 13, Block I, Oniru Chieftaincy Family Private Estate, Lekki, Lagos, belonging to a former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Justice Akintayo Aluko made the order following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Head of Legal Section Anselem Ozioko and a legal officer in the Commission, Abbas Mohammed.
Recall that Justice Babs Kuewuni had on May 15, 2018, granted interim forfeiture of the said land.
In making final forfeiture order, Justice Aluko upheld the EFCC’s motion on notice dated February 17, 2022.
The judge held: “A final order is hereby granted forfeiting the property/asset listed and described in the schedule herein to the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
The EFCC had listed the Diezani, a Nigeria lawyer, Donald Chidi Amamgbo and MEZ Group LLC, as respondents in the suit numbered FHC/L/CS/811/2018.
Justice Babs Kuewuni in 2018, made the interim forfeiture upon reading the affidavit in support of the motion paper sworn to by AbdulRasheed Bawa, now the chairman of the Commission, which was argued and moved by Mr. Anselem B. C. Ozioko.
As part of the interim orders, the judge had directed the EFCC to notify the persons in whose possession the properties sought to be forfeited were found to appear before the court and show cause within 14 days why the properties should not be forfeited to the government.
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