The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has opposed an application by former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, seeking to present evidence of her acquittal by the Southwark Crown Court in London, United Kingdom.
The anti-graft agency urged Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss the application, arguing that the purported acquittal by the foreign court is not material or relevant to the issues before the Nigerian court.
The development is part of an ongoing legal battle in which Alison-Madueke is challenging the forfeiture and proposed sale of assets allegedly connected to her.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that Justice Ekwo had, on July 1, granted the former minister permission to file a further or supplementary affidavit relating to her acquittal in the United Kingdom.
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The application was moved by her counsel, Godwin Iyinbor, and was not opposed at the time by EFCC counsel, Mofesomo Oyetibo, SAN.
The Southwark Crown Court had, on June 17, 2026, discharged and acquitted Alison-Madueke in relation to criminal allegations of bribery brought against her in the United Kingdom.
Following the development, the former minister sought to place evidence of the acquittal before the Federal High Court in Abuja as part of her challenge to the EFCC’s actions concerning her assets.
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In her amended originating motion, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023, Alison-Madueke sued the EFCC as the sole respondent.
However, the commission has now filed a further counter-affidavit opposing her attempt to introduce the UK proceedings into the case.
In the counter-affidavit deposed to by Oyakhilome Ekienabor, a litigation officer in the law firm of EFCC counsel, the commission argued that the proceedings before the Southwark Crown Court had no bearing on the substantive issues before the Federal High Court.
The EFCC maintained that the foreign criminal proceedings were not being prosecuted before any Nigerian court and that Alison-Madueke’s purported acquittal should therefore not be allowed to distract the court from the issues in the suit.
The commission also argued that some of the depositions contained in Alison-Madueke’s supplementary affidavit were misleading, immaterial and irrelevant.
According to the EFCC, there was nothing in the public sale notice indicating that the properties listed for auction belonged to the former minister.
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The commission further maintained that the forfeiture order referred to jewellery and did not extend to other categories of assets or properties.
It argued that parties to a case cannot expand the scope of proceedings by introducing facts unrelated to the substantive issues before the court.
The EFCC consequently urged Justice Ekwo to discountenance the former minister’s further or supplementary affidavit seeking to introduce evidence of her UK acquittal.
Meanwhile, Alison-Madueke’s legal team has maintained that the UK acquittal constitutes a subsequent and material development that could assist the court in determining the case.
In the 10-ground argument filed by her counsel, Professor Mike Ozekhome, SAN, the former minister said her suit challenges, among other things, the public notice issued by the EFCC for the auction and sale of properties and personal effects allegedly affecting her proprietary rights.
Ozekhome argued that a major plank of his client’s case was that the EFCC sought to impose serious proprietary consequences on her without a conviction, fair hearing and strict compliance with the relevant statutory provisions governing forfeiture, management and disposal of property.
He argued that Alison-Madueke’s acquittal in London occurred after she had filed her earlier processes in the Nigerian case and was therefore a subsequent fact that could not have been presented earlier.
The senior lawyer stressed that his client was not asking the Federal High Court to sit on appeal over the decision of the Southwark Crown Court or automatically treat the foreign judgment as conclusive of the Nigerian proceedings.
Rather, he said the purpose was to place a subsequent material fact before the court which could assist it in doing substantial justice.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, counsel for Alison-Madueke, Queen-Ubokutom Uwe, informed the court that the matter had been scheduled for hearing of the EFCC’s preliminary objection and the originating motion.
She, however, told the court that the commission had served them with a fresh motion shortly before the hearing.
EFCC counsel, Paul Mgbeoma, expressed surprise at the continued filing of processes by the former minister’s legal team, comparing the situation to the volume of filings often seen in election petitions.
He nevertheless informed the court that he was ready to proceed with the hearing.
Justice Ekwo subsequently adjourned the matter until November 11, 2026, for hearing of the pending motions.
The case is expected to attract further attention as the Federal High Court considers the competing arguments over whether Alison-Madueke’s UK acquittal should form part of the evidence in her Nigerian asset-forfeiture challenge.
