Former Petroleum Resources minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to compel the Attorney General of the Fede
Former Petroleum Resources minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to compel the Attorney General of the Federation to bring her back to Nigeria from the United Kingdom, where she travelled to shortly after leaving office in 2015, to enable her appear in court in Nigeria to defend a criminal charge bordering on alleged laundering of N450m, where her name was mentioned.
The main defendants in the charge are a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Dele Belgore; and a former Minister of National Planning, Prof. Abubakar Suleiman. Belgore and Suleiman were charged before Justice Rilwan Aikawa for allegedly collecting N450m from Diezani and laundering same in the build-up to the 2015 general elections.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which filed the charges, claimed that the N450m was part of a sum of $115m which Diezani allegedly doled out to compromise the 2015 general elections.
The SAN and the professor were arraigned on five counts, wherein Diezani’s name was mentioned, but she was declared as being at large.
However, an Abuja based lawyer, Obinna Onya, who appeared before Justice Aikawa with an application seeking the joining of Diezani as one of the defendants in the charge at the resumed proceedings in the case on Tuesday, contended that contrary to the declaration by the EFCC that Diezani was at large, the former minister was in the UK and was willing to return to Nigeria so that she could appear in court to take her plea and defend the charges..
The lawyer argued that since Diezani’s name had been mentioned in the charge, it would be against her right to fair hearing for the case to proceed without affording her the opportunity to defend herself. The application prayed for an order mandating the Attorney General of the Federation, being the agent of the complainant, to facilitate the prompt appearance of the applicant in court on the next adjourned date, to take her plea and to defend the allegations made against her in counts 1, 2,3 and 4 of the charge, numbered FHC/L/35c/2017.”
Justice Aikawa adjourned the case till Wednesday, October 4 for continuation of trial.
Punch
