A Federal High Court in Lagos has ruled today that the former Minister of petroleum, Diezani Allison should temporarily forfeit some jewellery that EFCC found in her custody.
The jewellery she is being asked to submit for interim forfeiture is valued at around $40m according to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The judge who gave the order for the forfeiture, Justice Nicholas Oweibo said that according to the Law, the court has the statutory powers to order the forfeiture. The case was brought before the court by EFCC Prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo.
EFCC claims that the value they want to be forfeited is way more than Allison Diezani’s provable and lawful income. It is because of this that they believe that she must have acquired the jewellery with proceeds of unlawful activities.
The former minister and anyone interested in the jewellery must appear before the court within the next 14 days to show cause why the assets should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
They adjourned the court till August 13, 2019.
What do you think about one minister in Nigeria having $40M worth of jewellery? We would like to know how this makes you feel in the comment section below.
