Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the interim forfeiture of a
\nproperty on Banana Island, Lagos bought for $37.5m in 2013 by a former
\nMinister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.<\/p>\n
Justice Chuka Obiozor, a vacation judge, made the order yesterday
\nfollowing an ex parte application by Economic and Financial Crimes
\nCommission (EFCC) counsel Mr. Anselem Ozioko.<\/p>\n
The EFCC, in documents filed in court, described the property as Building
\n3, Block B, Bella Vista Plot 1, Zone N, Federal Government Layout, Banana
\nIsland Foreshore Estate. It has 24 apartments, 18 flats and six
\npenthouses.<\/p>\n
The court also ordered the temporary forfeiture of $2,740,197.96 and
\nN84,537,840.70, said to be part of the rent collected on the property.<\/p>\n
The funds were said to have been found in a bank account.<\/p>\n
Ozioko had told the judge that the EFCC reasonably suspected that the
\nproperty was acquired with proceeds of Alison-Madueke\u2019s alleged unlawful
\nactivities.<\/p>\n
He said the EFCC\u2019s investigation revealed that the former minister made
\nthe $37.5m payment for the property in cash, adding that the money was
\nmoved straight from her house in Abuja and paid into the seller\u2019s account
\nin Abuja.<\/p>\n
Ozioko added: \u201cNothing could be more suspicious than someone keeping such
\nhuge amounts in her apartment. Why was she doing that? To avoid attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are convinced beyond reasonable doubt because as of the time this
\nhappened, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke was still in public service as the
\nMinister of Petroleum Resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
The application was filed pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud
\nand Other Related Offences Act, No. 14, 2006 and Section 44(2)(k) of the
\nconstitution.<\/p>\n
Listed as respondents in the application are Mrs Alison-Madueke, a legal
\npractitioner, Afamefuna Nwokedi, and a company, Rusimpex Limited.<\/p>\n
In a 41-paragraph affidavit attached to the application, an EFCC
\ninvestigative officer, Abdulrasheed Bawa, averred that Nwokedi, in
\nconnivance with Mrs Alison-Madueke, incorporated Rusimpex Limited, on
\nSeptember 11, 2013 to facilitate the alleged fraud scheme.<\/p>\n
According to Bawa, when Nwokedi was questioned by the EFCC, the lawyer
\nexplained that he had approached the former minister for opportunities in
\nthe oil and gas industry but the ex-minister told him that being a lawyer,
\nshe did not have any such opportunity for him.<\/p>\n
She allegedly asked him whether he could in the alternative manage landed
\nproperties, an offer which Nwokedi accepted.<\/p>\n
Bawa stated that Nwokedi registered Rusimpex Limited at the Corporate
\nAffairs Commission (CAC). A lawyer in his law firm, Adetula Ayokunle, and
\na Russian, Vladmir Jourauleu, were listed as the directors of the company.
\nThe address of Nwokedi\u2019s law firm in Ikoyi, Lagos was registered as the
\nbusiness address of Rusimpex Limited.<\/p>\n
The investigator added that when Ayokunle was questioned by the EFCC, he
\nexplained that he only signed the CAC documents on his boss\u2019 instruction.
\nJourauleu denied knowledge of the firm.<\/p>\n
Bawa said: \u201cSometime in 2013, the former Minister of Petroleum Resources,
\nMrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, invited Barrister Afamefuna Nwokedi, the
\nPrincipal Counsel of Stillwaters Law Firm, to her house in Abuja for a
\nmeeting where she informed the said Barrister Afamefuna Nwokedi to
\nincorporate a company and use same as a front to manage landed properties
\non her behalf without using her name in any of the incorporation
\ndocuments.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe further directed Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi to meet with Mr. Bisi
\nOnasanya, the Group Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria Plc for
\nthat purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Stephen Onasanya was invited by the commission and he came and
\nvolunteered an extrajudicial statement wherein he stated that he marketed
\na property at Bella Vista, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, belonging to Mr.
\nYouseff Fattau of Ibatex Nigeria Limited to Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke
\nand Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke later bought the property from Mr. Youseff
\nFattau, through her lawyer, Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi (who she introduced to
\nhim) and that payment for the said property was made through the Abuja
\noffice of First Bank of Nigeria Plc.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst Bank of Nigeria Plc, through Mr. Barau Muazu, wrote to the
\ncommission and also volunteered an extrajudicial statement in writing that
\nthey made the payments totalling US37,500,000 to Ibatex Nigeria Limited &
\nYF Construction Development and Real Estate Limited on behalf of Mrs.
\nDiezani Alison-Madueke and that they collected the entire cash from Mrs.
\nDiezani Alison-Madueke at her residence of No. 10, Fredrick Chiluba Close
\nof Jose Marti Street, Asokor, Abuja and paid into the First Bank of
\nNigeria Plc accounts of Ibatex and YF Construction Development and Real
\nEstate Limited on her instruction.\u201d<\/p>\n
After listening to Ozioko, Justice Obiozor ordered temporary seizure of
\nthe property and the funds.<\/p>\n
He directed that the order should be published in a national newspaper.<\/p>\n
Justice Obiozor adjourned till\u00a0August 7<\/span><\/span>\u00a0for anyone interested in the 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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nproperty and funds to appear before him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"