{"id":129396,"date":"2026-09-10T00:07:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T23:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=129396"},"modified":"2026-09-10T00:07:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T23:07:33","slug":"diezanis-uk-acquittal-cso-coalition-seeks-greater-accountability-in-asset-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/diezanis-uk-acquittal-cso-coalition-seeks-greater-accountability-in-asset-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"Diezani\u2019s UK Acquittal: CSO Coalition Seeks Greater Accountability in Asset Recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>By John Azu<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A coalition of Nigerian and United Kingdom civil society organisations has called for greater transparency and accountability in Nigeria\u2019s asset recovery efforts following the acquittal of former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, in a UK court.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The coalition made the call on Tuesday at a media and civil society briefing organised by the African Network for Environmental Justice (ANEEJ) to examine the UK court proceedings involving the former minister and their implications for Nigeria\u2019s anti-corruption and asset recovery efforts.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The briefing brought together more than 55 participants, including legal experts, journalists, academics and civil society representatives.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Among those in attendance were ANEEJ Executive Director, Rev. David Ugolor; Chairman of the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) Resource Centre, Suraj Olaruwanju; Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani; Deputy Director of Spotlight on Corruption UK, Helen Taylor; and Legal Fellow, Zainab Saleem, among other Nigerian and international stakeholders.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In his remarks, Ugolor said the UK court\u2019s verdict should sustain the wider conversation around Nigeria\u2019s oil wealth, public accountability, illicit financial flows and asset recovery.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He stressed that while international cooperation remained essential because illicit financial flows crossed national borders, Nigeria needed to strengthen its domestic capacity to investigate corruption, prosecute legally sustainable cases and recover stolen assets effectively.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Rafsanjani said although the UK court acquitted Diezani of bribery allegations, the development raised broader questions about how the assets of public officials were assessed, traced and accounted for.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He called for greater clarity on the status and management of assets recovered or linked to corruption investigations.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Similarly, the Director of the Legal Defence and Accountability Project (LEDAP) said civil society organisations and the media should continue to monitor the other aspects of the case in Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">At the end of the briefing, participants adopted a communique outlining several recommendations, including calls to &#8220;Engage the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other relevant authorities to clarify the status, management and utilisation of assets connected to the case, particularly those seized, forfeited or auctioned.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Advocate for a comprehensive and publicly accessible national database of recovered and forfeited assets.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Support journalists to investigate and report responsibly on the acquisition, recovery, management and utilisation of assets linked to public officials.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Provide continuing legal and policy briefings to journalists on Nigerian asset-forfeiture proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Strengthen cooperation between Nigerian and international civil society partners on cross-border corruption investigations and asset recovery.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Sustain engagement with investigating agencies and the judiciary to promote effective, transparent and timely investigations and prosecutions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Monitor the implementation of the Proceeds of Crime Act and advocate for recovered assets to be used transparently for public benefit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The coalition stressed that Diezani\u2019s acquittal in the UK should not bring an end to legitimate scrutiny of assets associated with the wider corruption allegations.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cAn acquittal in one criminal case should not end legitimate questions about the tracing, recovery, management and public use of assets. Due process must be respected, but accountability must continue wherever the evidence leads,\u201d the communique stated.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By John Azu A coalition of Nigerian and United Kingdom civil society organisations has called for greater transparency and accountability in Nigeria\u2019s asset recovery efforts following the acquittal of former&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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