Former Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Alison-Madueke has secured a legal boost in her battle with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after a Federal High Court in Abuja granted her permission to rely on her recent acquittal in the United Kingdom as part of her case.
The ruling comes just weeks after a London court cleared the former minister of bribery allegations, a development her legal team believes could significantly strengthen her bid to recover assets previously forfeited to the EFCC.
At Wednesday’s proceedings, Justice Inyang Ekwo approved an application filed by Alison-Madueke seeking leave to submit a supplementary affidavit containing details of her acquittal by the Southwark Crown Court in London.
Her counsel, Godwin Iyinbor, told the court that the application was necessary because the UK judgment represented a fresh and material development that occurred after the suit had already been filed.
“The application seeks the permission to file a further supplementary affidavit for the purpose of bringing fresh and material development with respect to Diezani’s acquittal by the UK court,” Iyinbor told the court.
He also asked the court to deem the supplementary affidavit as properly filed and served.
Although EFCC lawyer Mofesomo Oyetibo initially argued that the application appeared to waste the court’s time, he later clarified that the anti-graft agency would not oppose the request.
“They just want to bring to your lordship’s attention that the applicant has been exonerated in UK,” Oyetibo said.
Following the submissions, Justice Ekwo granted the application and adjourned the matter until October 6, when both the EFCC’s preliminary objection and the substantive suit will be heard together.
Alison-Madueke is challenging the EFCC’s decision to forfeit permanently and auction several of her assets in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/21/2023.
In court documents filed by senior lawyer Mike Ozekhome (SAN), the former minister argued that the commission moved to dispose of her properties without first securing a criminal conviction or complying with due process.
According to her legal team, the recent judgment delivered by the Southwark Crown Court is directly relevant to the issues before the Nigerian court.
“After the filing of the applicant’s processes and while this suit was still pending before this honourable court, a subsequent and material event occurred, to wit: the applicant was acquitted by the Southwark Crown Court, London, United Kingdom, on June 17, 2026.”
The filing further argued that the UK verdict touches on key issues, including the absence of a criminal conviction, a fair hearing, due process, and the legality of permanently depriving a person of their property.
However, Ozekhome clarified that Alison-Madueke was not asking the Nigerian court to treat the UK judgment as binding.
“He did not seek by this application to invite the court to sit on appeal over the said foreign decision or to treat same as automatically conclusive of the Nigerian proceedings. It is to place before the court subsequent material fact which would assist the court in doing substantial justice.”
On June 17, 2026, a jury at the Southwark Crown Court acquitted Alison-Madueke after more than 46 hours of deliberations.
The former minister, who served under former President Goodluck Jonathan between 2010 and 2015, had been accused of receiving approximately £100,000 in alleged bribes in exchange for awarding oil contracts.
During the trial, a statement from Jonathan was read in court, in which the former president said it was not unusual for third parties to settle expenses on behalf of ministers during official foreign trips.
Alison-Madueke also maintained in her defence that she did not possess unilateral authority to award oil contracts, explaining that such approvals passed through multiple government agencies before reaching her office.
With the Abuja court now admitting evidence of her UK acquittal, attention will shift to the substantive hearing in October, where the court will determine whether the EFCC lawfully forfeited the former minister’s assets.
