Court issues fresh summons for Diezani’s arrest, prosecution

A Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja, has issued fresh summons for former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, over pending corruption charges against her.

This is the second arrest warrant to be issued against the ex-minister, who is believed to have fled to the United Kingdom since leaving office in 2015.

On December 4, 2018, a judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Valentine Ashi (now the late), had ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), the Department Security Service (DSS) and other security agencies to arrest her within 72 hours.

The matter was later taken to FHC, Abuja, where the EFCC filed 13 counts of money laundering against her in anticipation of her extradition to Nigeria.

On July 24, 2020, Ijeoma Ojukwu, a judge of the FHC, Abuja, handling the matter, issued a summons for the former minister to appear to answer to the charges preferred against her.
But she allegedly ignored the summons.

EFCC subsequently requested the judge to issue a warrant of arrest against her.

Meanwhile, an Abuja court has also fixed February 7 for the arraignment of the Chairman, HEDA Resource Centre, Olanrewaju Suraju, for alleged forgery.

When the matter was called yesterday, the prosecuting counsel told the court that the business of the day was for the arraignment of Suraju.

However, his counsel, Mr. Muiz Banire, drew the attention of the court to the fact that his client had not been served with the proof of evidence.

THE trial of a former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, continued, yesterday, before Justice Ojukwu of FHC, Abuja, with the continuation of cross-examination of the 16th prosecution witness, Mercy Titus, a certified ethical hacker and forensic analyst of EFCC.

Lamido and his two sons, Aminu and Mustapha, as well as Aminu Wada Abubakar, Bamaina Holdings Limited and Speeds International Limited are facing prosecution for alleged N1.35 billion fraud.

JUSTICE Josiah Majebi of the Kogi State High Court sitting in Lokoja has declared that the provisions of Sections 291 to 297 of the state’s Administration of Criminal Justice Law, which relates to the power of the magistrate to grant a remand order, are constitutional and consistent with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

Majebi stated this in his ruling in an application for Judicial Review by an order of Certiorari made by Ali Nathaniel and Sule Abdulkareem against the Commissioner of Police.