The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted an application filed by former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to present evidence of her acquittal by the Southwark Crown Court in London, United Kingdom, in her ongoing suit against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
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Justice Inyang Ekwo granted the motion on notice on Wednesday after it was moved by Alison-Madueke’s counsel, Godwin Iyinbor.
The application was not opposed by counsel for the EFCC, Mofesomo Oyetibo, SAN.
Alison-Madueke had approached the court in a suit seeking to reclaim assets earlier forfeited to the Federal Government through proceedings initiated by the EFCC.
The amended originating motion, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023, has the EFCC as the sole respondent.
When the matter was called, counsel for both parties regularised their processes before the court.
Iyinbor thereafter sought the leave of court to move a motion on notice filed on June 25, 2026.
He told the court that the motion sought permission to file a further and supplementary affidavit for the purpose of bringing a fresh and material development to the attention of the court.
According to him, the fresh development was Alison-Madueke’s acquittal by the Southwark Crown Court in London on June 17, 2026, in respect of criminal allegations of bribery brought against her in the United Kingdom.
The former minister’s legal team argued that the UK acquittal was relevant to the pending Nigerian proceedings, especially as allegations repeatedly referenced against her formed part of the background to the forfeiture dispute.
The application also sought an order deeming the supplementary affidavit as properly filed.
Responding, Oyetibo confirmed that the EFCC had been served with the application.
The EFCC lawyer, however, described the motion as one intended to waste judicial time, saying the applicant merely wanted to bring to the court’s attention that she had been exonerated in the United Kingdom.
Justice Ekwo then asked whether the EFCC intended to oppose the application.
Oyetibo replied that the commission would not object to the motion.
The judge consequently granted the application as prayed.
Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter to October 6, 2026, for hearing.
He also directed that the preliminary objection and the substantive suit would be taken together on the next adjourned date.
Alison-Madueke had, in her suit, challenged the public notice issued by the EFCC for the auction and sale of properties and personal effects allegedly linked to her.
In her processes, she contended that the forfeiture orders relied upon by the EFCC were obtained in breach of her constitutional rights to fair hearing and property.
She argued that she was not served with processes in the proceedings that led to the final forfeiture orders and that the orders were allegedly obtained through misstatements, misrepresentation, non-disclosure and suppression of material facts.
Her legal team maintained that the UK court’s acquittal constituted a material development which the Federal High Court should consider in determining her challenge to the forfeiture proceedings.
The EFCC, however, has previously opposed her claims, insisting that the forfeiture proceedings were valid and that the properties were lawfully recovered through judicial processes.
The anti-graft agency had also maintained that investigations linked the former minister to alleged acts of corruption, official misconduct and money laundering.
Alison-Madueke served as Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources under former President Goodluck Jonathan.
She had faced bribery allegations in the United Kingdom for several years before she was discharged and acquitted by the Southwark Crown Court on June 17, 2026.
With the latest ruling, the Federal High Court will now consider the UK acquittal judgment as part of the materials before it when hearing the pending applications and substantive asset forfeiture challenge.
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