The Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday dismissed an
application by former Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs Diezani
Alison-Madueke seeking to be tried in Nigeria.
Ruling on the application, Justice Rilwan Aikawa said it was
misconceived.
He agreed with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
( EFCC ) that the application was a bid by the former Minister to escape
justice in the United Kingdom. Justice Aikawa said the Attorney-General of the
Federation has the exclusive right to decide who to bring a charge against.
“Why did she wait all this while before she came up with
this bizarre application?
“I find this application as lacking in merit and it is
hereby dismissed,” the judge held. He added that he would not allow his court
to be misused, adding that Mrs Alison-Madueke “was crying wolf where there was
none”. The EFCC urged Court not to order Mrs Alison-Madueke from the United
Kingdom to Nigeria.
The anti-graft
agency described Diezani’s prayer to be brought back to Nigeria as a ploy to
escape justice in the UK, where, according to the EFCC, she is being
investigated for several financial crimes by the Metropolitan Police. According to the EFCC, investigation by the
Metropolitan Police in Diezani’s case had reached an advanced stage and her
prosecution in the UK was imminent. It, therefore, said it would not be in the
interest of justice to grant Diezani’s application seeking to return to
Nigeria.
The EFCC said this
in a counter-affidavit it filed in opposition to Diezani’s application before
Justice Rilwan Aikawa, wherein she is seeking an order compelling the Attorney
General of the Federation to facilitate her return to Nigeria. In the said
application, which she filed through her lawyer, Mr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, Diezani
said she wished to appear before the Federal High Court in Lagos to defend a
criminal charge, bordering on alleged laundering of N450m, where her name was
mentioned.
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