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Appeal court affirms final forfeiture of Diezani’s $40m jewellery

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The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, has dismissed an appeal by the former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, challenging the forfeiture of her $40million worth of jewellery to the Federal Government.

The appellate court, on Friday, held that there was no substance in Alison-Madueke’s application to overturn the lower court’s order.

It affirmed the 2019 judgment of Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court which forfeited the jewellery following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The appellate court gave its judgment in an appeal filed by Alison-Madueke.

On July 5, 2019, the EFCC secured an order of the high court temporarily forfeiting the items to the Federal Government.

According to the schedule attached to the application, the 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.”

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The items were seized from the former minister’s premises, at No. 10 Fredrick Chiluba Close, Asokoro, Abuja.

Justice Oweibo on July 19, 2019, granted the EFCC’s motion for final forfeiture of the jewellery.

The judge held that the former minister failed to show cause why the jewellery should not be forfeited to the federal government.

In his application for the final forfeiture order, EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, had told the judge that the items were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with the proceeds of unlawful activities of the former minister.

An investigator with the commission, Rufai Zaki, in an affidavit 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 Minister.

The investigator also said that the EFCC was in possession of the details of the bank account through which Mrs Alison-Madueke received her salary as a minister.

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“The respondent did not utilise her salary or any part of her legitimate income to acquire the assets sought to be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria,” Mr 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, who has remained in the United Kingdom since 2015, challenged the seizure of the jewellery from her premises by the EFCC.

According to an affidavit filed on her behalf by her counsel, Awa Kalu (SAN), Alison-Madueke 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.

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Emefiele collected $600k kickback in cash from contractors, former CBN director tells court

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John Ikechukwu Ayoh, a former director at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has testified against Godwin Emefiele, ex-governor of the apex bank, in the ongoing case of abuse of office at the Lagos high court.

 

Emefiele and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, are currently facing trial on a 26-count charge.

 

The former CBN governor and Omoile pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

 

At the court proceedings on Monday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) presented Ayoh as the second witness in the case against Emefiele.

 

Ayoh told the court that he worked at the apex bank from June 2014 to April 2019 noting that he did not work directly under Emefiele.

 

Ayoh added that he used to report to Adebayo Adelabu, a former deputy governor of CBN, who is now the minister of power.

 

The witness said he was the head of procurement and support services (PSS) of the apex bank, which was vested with powers to receive bids and select successful bidders.

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The former CBN director said he collected money from contractors as gratification of awarding contracts to them based on the instruction from Emefiele.

 

The witness said Emefiele usually sends his personal assistant (PA) — John Adetona — to collect the contractors’ kickback from him.

 

Ayoh said he collected $400,000 and $200,000 in cash from contractors on two different occasions and handed them over to Emefiele’s PA.

 

“The first transaction was $400,000 and the second one was $200,000 in cash. I was in my house when the first envelope was brought to me. His assistant was asked to collect the money,” he told the court.

“One of the vendors had a contract with CBN which involved the implementation of data storage and infrastructure.

 

“The first package was collected in my residence at Lekki phase one, while the second package was collected at the head office in Lagos.”

 

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During cross-examination by Olalekan Ojo, counsel to Emefiele, Ayoh said he was under duress from the former CBN to accept gratifications on his behalf.

 

“No, I was under duress from my boss (referring to Emefiele). We were faced with tremendous pressure to bend the rule,” the witness said when asked about aiding the commission of a crime by collecting the money.

 

Asked if he indicated in his statement with the EFCC that the money was meant to influence the award of contracts, the witness said some parts of his statement implied that.

 

“Who told you that it (the money) is for gratification,” Emefiele’s counsel asked.

“The cash is for gratification to the governor for awarding the contracts. He (Emefiele) asked for it. He won’t approve the contract without gratification,” the witness said.

 

On whether he was arrested by the EFCC, the witness said the anti-graft agency invited him and was granted bail afterwards.

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Emefiele’s counsel told the court that the witness must have traded being charged by the EFCC to become a witness against the former CBN boss.

 

INTERIM BAIL

After the cross-examination of the witness, Emefiele’s counsel sought a fresh interim bail for the former CBN governor, pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions earlier stipulated by the court.

 

Ojo told the court that the initial interim bail granted to Emefiele ended today (Monday), adding that the defence team has not been able to meet the bail conditions.

 

He urged the court to grant Emefiele another interim bail that would end on May 17.

 

Rahman Oshodi, the presiding judge, granted the request and ordered that Ojo swear to an affidavit to provide Emefiele in the next adjourned date.

 

Oshodi adjourned to May 3, 9, and 17 for the continuation of the trial.

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Dark Sunday: 19 people burnt to death in Okene-Lokoja highway auto crash

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Nineteen people were, on Sunday, burnt to death in an auto crash along the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi state.

 

In a statement by Jonas Agwu, its public education officer, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said the accident involved a Dangote truck with registration details NSH680YJ and a Toyota Hiace bus with registration number KMC455ZE.

 

According to the FRSC, both vehicles suffered a head-on collision after a route violation by the truck, resulting in an inferno.

 

The agency said out of the all-male 22 passengers involved in the accident, three were rescued.

 

“The TYT bus loaded from Kano was on its lane on the highway when the Dangote Truck driver who drove all the way from Port Harcourt wrongfully overtook a vehicle & collided head-on with the bus. The impact of the collision resulted in an inferno that burnt the victims to death,” the statement reads.

 

“Unfortunately, 19 people out of the 22 victims were killed and 1 injured. The remaining 2 victims who got rescued by FRSC operatives without injuries survived the crash because they complied with traffic regulations on compulsory use of seatbelt.

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“The corpses of the dead victims whose lives were claimed by the crash have been deposited at Okene General Hospital.”

 

Dauda Biu, the FRSC corps marshal, said the agency will continue its ongoing prosecution of drivers “who by their actions cause road traffic crashes in Nigeria”.

 

Biu further called on the judiciary and leadership of transport unions and other relevant stakeholders in the road transportation sector to join hands with the corps to ensure speedy and effective prosecution of offenders.

 

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Man trying to escape arrest drowns in Lagos Lagoon

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A man, simply identified as Azeez, has allegedly jumped into the lagoon in Lagos and drowned while trying to evade arrest for stealing some bags of cement.

The Spokesperson of the Police Command in Lagos, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed this on Sunday.

 

Hundeyin said that the Director in charge of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) operations in Lagos Central, (name not mentioned), reported the case to Ikoyi Police Division on Friday at about 12.20 p.m.

Hundeyin said that the director reported that at about 10.45 a.m. on Friday, he received a call that there was an incident at Lekki/Ikoyi Link Bridge.

 

According to him, on getting to the scene, he met a large crowd gathered by the waterside, watching the lifeless body of a man who had drowned.

“The deceased was later identified as Azeez. He was later confirmed dead by paramedics of Pre Hospital Care, Lagos.

 

“It was discovered that one Elijah Amos, the seller of the cement, was pursuing the deceased before he jumped into the Lagoon because he was alleged to have stolen some bags of cement,” Hundeyin said.

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Hundeyin said that the scene was visited by the police, while the corpse had been evacuated to Mainland General Hospital Mortuary, Yaba, for autopsy and preservation.

 

He added that an investigation into the case was in progress.

 

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