Skip to main content

How Diezani Alison-Maduke Lost $40-Million Jewellery Including 419 Expensive Bangles To Buhari Regime

The Federal high court in Ikoyi, Lagos has granted the final forfeiture of the $40-Million worth of jewellery seized from Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, to the Nigerian government.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo ordered the final forfeiture on Tuesday.
He said the former Minister failed to show cause why the jewellery should not be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Rotimi Oyedepo, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had argued that the expensive jewellery were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
An investigator with the Commission, Rufai Zaki, in an affidavit put before the court insisted that the jewellery were beyond the former Minister’s “known and provable lawful income".
The investigator further said that findings by the EFCC showed that she started acquiring the jewellery in 2012, two years after she was appointed a minister. 
The investigator also said that the EFCC was in possession of the details of the bank account through which Alison-Madueke received her salary as a minister.
“The respondent did not utilize her salary or any part of her legitimate income to acquire the assets sought to be forfeited to the federal government of Nigeria,” Zaki said.
He said a “damning intelligence report” received by the commission led to the search of the former minister’s house at No. 10 Fredrick Chiluba Close, Asokoro, Abuja.
The former minister on her part had challenged the seizure of the jewellery from her residence by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
In an affidavit filed on her behalf by her counsel, Awa Kalu (SAN), Alison-Madueke, who is currently in the United Kingdom, alleged that the EFCC violated her fundamental "right to own property and to appropriate them at her discretion,” under sections 43 and 44 of the constitution.
She also accused the anti-graft agency of entering her apartment illegally and taking the items without any court order.
On July 5, 2019, EFCC  had secured an order of the court temporarily forfeiting the expensive pieces of jewellery to the federal government.
According to the schedule attached to the application, the jewellery, categorized into 33 sets, include 419 expensive bangles; 315 expensive rings; 304 expensive earrings; 267 expensive necklaces; 189 expensive wristwatches; 174 expensive necklaces and earrings; 78 expensive bracelets; 77 expensive brooches; and 74 expensive pendants.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ECOWAS Parliament, others strategize on food security, fight against Covid-19

Speaker of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Parliament) Sidie Mohammed Tunis, has been joined by  experts in the sub region and other stakeholders to strategize on how to improve food security and  agricultural production in order to ameliorate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the region. This is the crux of the ECOWAS Parliament Delocalised meeting with the theme " Agricultural Production and Food Security in ECOWAS region under Covid-19 pandemic" scheduled to begin on Tuesday November 10 in Bissau, Guinea Bissau. Speaker Tunis, who led a delegation of members of Parliament for a courtesy visit on the President of Guinea Bissau, Umaro Embalo, at the Presidential Villa in Bissau on Monday ahead of Tuesday's opening ceremony, said Guinea Bissau was chosen for the meeting because it is believed to be stable. The Speaker said :  "As you all are aware, Covid-19 has had very negative effects on food production, which is threat...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reject List From Countries In breach Of 30 Percent Women Representation – Njai Tells ECOWAS Parliament

A Gambian representative to the ECOWAS Parliament, Honorable Fatoumatta Njai has challenged the Community Parliament to reject list of countries that are short of thirty percent women’s representation to the Parliament. Speaking in an exclusive interview at the official Opening Ceremony of the Fifth Legislature’s delocalized meeting of the Joint Committee on Social Affairs, Gender and Women Empowerment / Education, Science and Culture/Health, currently holding in Monrovia, Liberia on the theme, “ Empowerment of Women in the ECOWAS Region.” Njai said that some countries lack female representation in the Conference of Bureau, this according to her is disregarding the ECOWAS Rules of Procedure. “The Rules of Procedures mentioned that each member country should have a female representation at the Conference of Bureau. Each country has three members in the Conference of Bureau, so each country can at least have one female member which will be thirty percent representation. I thin...
Post a Comment
Read more
Benin Republic set to review Constitution on terms of Political Office. In a year when many countries on the continent and in West Africa are changing their constitutions to allow for incumbent presidents to run yet again, the Beninese National Assembly has approved a major constitutional reform to discuss the precision on the two terms of office of the President of the Republic among other issues. Detailing the political situation of Benin at the floor of the ECOWAS Parliament, the country report presented contained that the constitutions review was to address the current political situation of the country marking a new Republic following two unsuccessful attempts. The report stated that “Benin Republic has after the April 2019 Legislative elections experienced a tense atmosphere following the frustrating feelings from political group who were unable to participate in the legislative elections, due to the inability to meet the requirement on the law on the constit...
Post a Comment
Read more