Fresh Trouble for Diezani as EFCC Rejects UK Acquittal in Asset Case

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to disregard former Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke’s attempt to introduce her recent acquittal in the United Kingdom into an ongoing case concerning assets linked to her.

The commission told Justice Inyang Ekwo that the decision of the Southwark Crown Court in London was unrelated to the issues before the Nigerian court and should not influence the proceedings.

Alison-Madueke had sought to place evidence of her June 17, 2026 acquittal on six bribery-related charges before the Federal High Court as part of her challenge to actions taken against her properties and personal effects.

Her suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023, has the EFCC as the sole respondent.

Justice Ekwo had earlier permitted the former minister to file a further affidavit addressing developments arising from her acquittal in the UK.

The EFCC did not initially oppose the application when it was presented, but the commission later filed a counter-affidavit challenging the relevance of the London proceedings.

The matter came up before Justice Ekwo on Tuesday during proceedings involving the EFCC’s preliminary objection and Alison-Madueke’s substantive originating motion.

Counsel to the former minister, Queen-Ubokutom Uwe, informed the court that her team had received a fresh process from the EFCC shortly before the hearing.

She identified the document as the commission’s further counter-affidavit responding to Alison-Madueke’s supplementary affidavit.

Uwe also reminded the court that the former minister had an outstanding application seeking to regularise some of the processes already filed in the case.

EFCC counsel, Paul Mgbeoma, expressed concern over the number of processes being filed by Alison-Madueke’s legal team.

He reportedly compared the volume and manner of the filings to proceedings in an election petition, although he told the court that he was ready to proceed with the matter.

Justice Ekwo subsequently adjourned the case until November 11 for the hearing of the pending applications.

In its latest counter-affidavit, filed on October 5, the EFCC argued that the proceedings in London were separate from the Nigerian case and should not be allowed to broaden the issues before the Federal High Court.

The affidavit was deposed to by Oyakhilome Ekienabor, a litigation officer in the law firm of Oyetibo.

The commission maintained that Alison-Madueke’s acquittal in the UK resulted from a separate criminal proceeding that was not before the Nigerian court.

It argued that the London judgment did not determine the ownership or legal status of the properties involved in the Nigerian proceedings.

The EFCC also disputed any suggestion that all the properties listed in a public sale notice were owned by the former minister.

According to the commission, the sale notice did not establish that the properties listed in it belonged to Alison-Madueke.

The agency further clarified that the forfeiture order being challenged was restricted to jewellery and did not cover other categories of assets or properties.

It therefore asked the court to reject the supplementary affidavit on the grounds that it introduced matters that were not relevant to the dispute already before the court.

Alison-Madueke’s Lawyers Defend UK Evidence

The former minister’s legal team, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Mike Ozekhome, had argued that the UK acquittal was a significant subsequent development that the Nigerian court should be allowed to consider.

Ozekhome’s position was that Alison-Madueke could not have referred to the acquittal in her earlier court processes because the judgment had not yet been delivered when those documents were filed.

He also argued that the Nigerian court was not being asked to review or overturn the decision of the Southwark Crown Court.

Rather, the legal team wants the Federal High Court to consider the acquittal as a subsequent event while determining issues relating to Alison-Madueke’s property rights, fair hearing and due process.

The former minister was acquitted by a jury at Southwark Crown Court on June 17, 2026, after facing six bribery-related charges brought by UK authorities.

The case, prosecuted following an investigation by the UK National Crime Agency, concerned allegations relating to events between 2011 and 2015. Alison-Madueke denied the allegations.

Her acquittal has since become part of the legal arguments surrounding her ongoing dispute with the EFCC in Nigeria.

However, the commission maintains that the UK criminal case and the Nigerian asset proceedings are separate matters and that the London verdict should not alter the issues before the Federal High Court.

Former presidential spokesman Laolu Akande had also previously urged Alison-Madueke to return to Nigeria and face the corruption-related cases pending against her, arguing that her UK acquittal did not automatically bring the Nigerian proceedings to an end.