By Lukman Olabiyi

Justice Chuka Obiozor of the Federal High Court, Lagos, has ordered the temporary forfeiture of real estate worth  $37.5 million, situated on Banana Island, Lagos, allegedly owned by former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

The property, designated as Building 3, Block B, Bella Vista, Plot 1, Zone N, Federal Government Layout, Banana Island Foreshore Estate, has 24 apartments, 18 flats and six penthouses, according to court papers presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Apart from the property, the court also ordered the temporary forfeiture of the sums 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 Zenith Bank account.

The order of the court was as a result of an ex parte application filed and argued before the court by the EFCC’s counsel, Anselem Ozioko.

Ozioko told the judge that the EFCC reasonably suspected that the property was acquired by Alison-Madueke.

The lawyer said investigation by the EFCC showed that Alison-Madueke made the  $37.5 million payment for the purchase of the property in cash, adding that the money was moved straight from her house in Abuja and paid into the seller’s First Bank account in Abuja.

He said: “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 when this happened Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke was still in public service as the Minister of Petroleum Resources.”

The ex parte application taken before the judge 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 were Alison-Madueke, a legal practitioner, Afamefuna Nwokedi, and a company, Rusimpex Limited.

In a 41-paragraph affidavit attached to the application, an investigative officer with the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, explained that Nwokedi, in connivance with Alison-Madueke, incorporated Rusimpex Limited on September 11, 2013, to facilitate the alleged scam.

According to Bawa, when Nwokedi was questioned by the EFCC, the lawyer explained that he had approached Alison-Madueke 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 and asked him whether he could, in the alternative, manage landed property, and he accepted the offer.

Bawa alleged that Nwokedi later registered Rusimpex Limited at the Corporate Affairs Commission, wherein a lawyer in his law firm, Adetula Ayokunle, and a Russian, Vladmir Jourauleu, were listed as the directors of the company, while 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 appended his signature on the CAC documents at his boss’ instruction, while Jourauleu denied knowing anything about the company.

The investigator explained that: “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 instructed 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. Onasanya was invited by the commission and he came and volunteered an extra-judicial 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. According to him, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke later bought the property from Mr. Youseff Fattau through her lawyer, Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi (who she introduced to him), and 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 extra-judicial statement in writing that they made the payments totalling $37,500,000 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, No. 10, Fredrick Chiluba Close, off Jose Martin Street, Asokoro, Abuja, and paid into the First Bank of Nigeria Plc accounts of Ibatex and YF Construction Development on her instruction.”

Justice Obiozor made an order temporarily seizing the property and the funds.

He directed that the order should be published in a national newspaper.

He adjourned the case till August 7, 2017, for anyone interested in the property and funds to appear before the court.