The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is against former Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Alison-Madueke’s request to present proof of her acquittal of bribery charges by the Southwark Crown Court in London.
The anti-corruption agency asked Judge Inyang Ekwo to reject the request.
In a counter-affidavit, the EFCC argued that the alleged acquittal of Mrs Alison-Madueke by a foreign court is not relevant to the issues being handled in the current court.
Earlier, the EFCC had stated that the assets Mrs Alison-Madueke wants to recover through this legal action, which started in 2023, were sold off following court orders.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that on 1 July, the judge approved the request from the former minister to present evidence of the London court’s decision.
Mofesomo Oyetibo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), representing the EFCC at that time, did not oppose the request.
The EFCC's agreement to the request, made by Mrs Alison-Madueke's lawyer Godwin Iyinbor, led the judge to grant it.
The UK Acquittal
The UK court’s ruling, given on 17 June, cleared Mrs Alison-Madueke of all bribery charges filed against her by British prosecutors.
She served as Nigeria’s petroleum minister from 2010 to 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan. She was found not guilty of five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
British prosecutors claimed that Mrs Alison-Madueke received luxurious benefits and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle in London, funded by oil and gas industry figures looking for favorable treatment and profitable contracts in Nigeria’s oil sector.
They argued that these benefits were exchanged for the oil and gas contracts she granted during her time as petroleum minister from 2010 to 2015.
Despite these allegations, the former minister consistently claimed during the trial that she never accepted bribes nor had direct control over the awarding of government contracts.
The UK jury acquitted her after finding her not guilty of the bribery charges.
Mrs Alison-Madueke still faces ongoing corruption charges and multiple forfeiture orders on several assets linked to her back in Nigeria as she undergoes investigations and prosecutions in the UK.
Fight to Recover Assets
The former minister, who left Nigeria in 2015 shortly after leaving office, began her case against the EFCC as the only defendant in 2023 to stop the sale of her forfeited assets.
She submitted a revised version of the case in February 2025.
Following her UK acquittal in June, she filed to present this judgment as proof of her innocence and rightful ownership of the assets.
The EFCC stated in a filing that the assets had already been sold based on court orders.
During the last court session, Mrs Alison-Madueke’s lawyer, Mr Iyinbor, requested permission to file a new affidavit to update the court about her UK acquittal.
EFCC’s lawyer, Ms Oyetibo, did not object to this request, allowing the judge to grant it.
Mr Iyinbor then filed the new affidavit, while the EFCC responded with a counter-affidavit.
In the EFCC’s counter-affidavit, sworn by Oyakhilome Ekienabor, a litigation officer, the agency opposed Mrs Alison-Madueke’s request to present this evidence.
EFCC's Opposition
In the court session on Tuesday, Queen-Ubokutom Uwe, representing Mrs Alison-Madueke, told the court that the EFCC had just served its further counter-affidavit in response to her client’s new affidavit.
She also reminded the court about their motion to regularize their processes.
Paul Mgbeoma, representing the EFCC, expressed surprise at how frequently Mrs Alison-Madueke was filing new documents, likening it to an election petition case.
He told the court he was ready to proceed with the hearing.
The judge then set 11 November for hearing of the motions.
NAN reports that the EFCC’s further counter-affidavit filed on 5 October referred to several claims in Mrs Alison-Madueke’s affidavit as misleading and not relevant to the key issues in her current case.
"The proceedings before the Southwark Crown Court, London, United Kingdom, and the alleged acquittal of the applicant there are in respect of a proceeding that is not being prosecuted before any Nigerian court and have nothing to do with the main case in this court," wrote Oyakhilome Ekienabor in the EFCC’s counter-affidavit.
The agency stated that there is nothing in the public sale notice showing that any of the properties listed belong to the applicant.
It added that "the order for forfeiture only covers items of jewelry and does not include any other kind of assets or properties."
It accused the applicant of attempting to broaden her case through these new filings.
"The applicant’s further affidavit introduces irrelevant facts into this case, diverting attention from the main issues before this court," the counter-affidavit stated.
The EFCC urged the court to reject the request to present evidence of her acquittal in the UK.
The Lawsuit
NAN recalls that Mrs Alison-Madueke filed her suit with the help of her lead attorney, Mike Ozekhome.
She argued, among the ten points cited in the suit, that she was challenging the public notice issued by the EFCC for the auction of properties and personal effects affecting her ownership rights.
"A major part of the applicant’s case here is that the respondent sought to impose serious consequences on her without a conviction, without fair hearing, and without following the necessary legal steps for forfeiture, management, and sale of properties," her lawyer argued.
The filing noted that the amended suit was submitted on 19 February 2025 after the court granted permission on 17 February 2025.
"While this suit was still pending, a significant event occurred: the applicant was acquitted by the Southwark Crown Court, London, United Kingdom, on 17 June 2026, of bribery allegations. This is clearly relevant to the claims linked to the applicant," the court document stated.
It continued that this new development is important for her case, especially regarding the issues of lack of conviction, fair hearing, due process, and the need for compliance with legal protections before disposing of properties that affect her rights.
Conclusion
The document clarified that the former minister is not asking the court to review the foreign decision or treat it as final in the Nigerian case.
Instead, this application is to allow Mrs Alison-Madueke to present new facts to help the court achieve fair justice.
According to Mr Ozekhome, who made the application for her, this fact was not available when she submitted her earlier documents and could not have been included then.
He argued that the court has the authority to allow a party to file such an application if the new facts will aid in resolving the issues at hand.
He added that the EFCC would not suffer any harm from granting this application.
He stated it would serve justice to approve the request.
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