Diezani Forfeits $40M Jewellery, Customised iPhone to FG

Matilda Omonaiye/

A Federal High Court in Lagos today ordered the forfeiture of jewellery valued at $40 million and a customised gold iPhone, belonging to former minister of petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

Justice Nicholas Oweibo ordered the temporary seizure of the items following an ex parte application moved by Rotimi Oyedepo, the lawyer for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He had said the application, which had Alison-Madueke as the only defendant, was filed in pursuant to section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act No. 14, 2006.

According to the schedule attached to the application, some of the 2150 pieces of jewellery, categorised 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”.

The anti-graft commission said it found and recovered the items in the premises of Alison-Madueke, adding that it suspected that the former minister acquired them with “proceeds of unlawful activities.”

Oweibo ordered EFCC to publish the forfeiture order in a national newspaper “for the respondent or anyone who is interested in the property sought to be forfeited to appear before this honourable court to show cause within 14 days why a final forfeiture order of the said properties should not be made in favour of the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

The judge adjourned the matter till August 23, 2019.