Nigeria to seize ex oil min’s property

A Nigerian court ordered the permanent forfeiture of more than USD 40 million in assets belonging to former Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Alison-Madueke on Monday.

The assets included a USD 37.5-million apartment block and rents paid on the property totalling around USD 3 million. The property had been temporarily seized in late July based on suspicion it had been purchased with the profits of illegal activities. The owners were given 14 days to respond, but the forfeiture order was uncontested.

According to the EFCC, former Minister Alison-Madueke bought the 15-storey property in cash in 2013. “Nothing could be more suspicious than someone keeping such huge amounts in her apartment. Why was she doing that? To avoid attention. We are convinced beyond reasonable doubt because, as of the time this happened, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke was still in public service as the minister of petroleum resources,” EFCC attorney Anselem Ozioko said in court.

Former Minister Alison-Madueke, who held office from 2011 to 2015, was charged with money-laundering in absentia in April 2017, while an additional USD 110 million was seized from her bank accounts in February 2017. Her current location is unknown. She also faces investigations in the UK and USA.