Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, former Minister of Petroleum Resources, has petitioned the Federal High Court in Abuja to vacate the bench warrant issued against her on July 24, 2020.
In a move on notice submitted before Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon by her counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, Alison-Madueke requested a court order extending the time within which she might seek leave to apply for the order dismissing the bench warrant.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Alison-Madueke served as a minister in President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration from 2010 to 2015.
The ex-minister asked the court to wipe out her name as “a defendant in charge number; FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018 between the Federal Republic of Nigeria V. Diezani Alison Madueke, pending before this honorable court.”
Alison-Madueke was the lone defendant/applicant in the motion, which had FRN as the complainant/respondent.
It was brought under Sections 36 (1) and (8), 35 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended); Sections 1, 113, 114, 382 (4 & 5) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015; and Section 6(6A) of the 1999 Constitution.
According to NAN, the Federal Government, through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), requested a bench warrant against Alison-Madueke in an ex-parte application.
After the anti-corruption lawyer brought the motion, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu granted the order on July 24, 2020, directing that Alison-Madueke be detained by local or international authorities anywhere she was spotted within or outside the country.
The development came as a result of the EFCC’s failure to extradite her back to the country from the United Kingdom (UK), where she currently resides, to face the money laundering trial recommended against her.
The case was reallocated to Justice Olajuwon after Ojukwu was transferred to the Calabar division of the court in 2021.
The ex-minister claimed in a five-point motion that the bench warrant was issued without authority and should be set aside ex debito justitiae. She claimed that it was issued in violation of her right to a fair hearing under Section 36 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
She further claimed that she had not been served with the charge sheet and proof of evidence under charge number: FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018, nor had she received any other summons in relation to the criminal charge proceeding against her before the court.
According to Alison-Madueke, the court was misled into obtaining the bench warrant against her based on suppression or non-disclosure of material facts.
The ex-minister said that she was exposed to an unfair media trial and internet lynching without being allowed to defend herself against the EFCC’s diet of lies about her.
In the interest of justice, she petitioned the court to dismiss the bench warrant order against her and strike her name from the accusation.
Meanwhile, as of the time of submitting the report, no hearing date had been set.
