Court hears FG’s N1.8bn suit against Diezani’s allies Nov. 23

The Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday fixed November 23 for hearing in a N1.8bn debt recovery suit filed by the Federal Government against two Nigerian businessmen, Kola Aluko and Jide Omokore.


The businessmen, the Federal Government claimed, benefited from some alleged shady transactions in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

Joined with them in the N1.8bn lawsuit are their companies – Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Nigeria Limited and Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited.

The matter, which was earlier fixed for Friday, was further adjourned at the instance of the presiding judge, Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo.

The court on May 24 granted the Federal Government a mareva injunction, restraining the defendants from tampering with the funds in some of their local and foreign banks accounts.

The court also froze some of their assets both in Nigeria and abroad.

The judge said the funds and assets would remain frozen until the final determination of the suit.

She restrained the defendants and their privies “from giving any instruction demanding, accepting or receiving payment from banks and other companies listed as In Re: 1 – 34 on the face of the motion paper and or giving any sale or transfer instruction, demanding, accepting or receiving any payment or sale or dividend on the shares owned by the defendants, their servants, agents, privies, sister companies, their nominees in the aforesaid companies and or persons listed as In Re: 28 -39 on the face of the motion on notice filed herein.”

The banks and companies listed in the motion included Access, Citi Bank, Diamond, Eco Bank Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, First City Monument Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank, Skye Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Standard Chartered Bank, Sterling Bank, Union Bank, United Bank for Africa, Unity Bank, Wema Bank, Zenith Bank (local banks).

The offshore financial institutions are BNP Paribas (Switzerland), LGT Bank (Switzerland), Standard Chartered Bank (London), Barclays Bank (London), Standard Energy (Voduz, Switzerland), HSBC (London), Corner Bank (Lugano, Switzerland) and Deutsche Bank (Geneva).

The companies include Mia Hotels Ltd, First Motors Ltd, V.I. Petrochemical Ltd, Evergreen Realty & Management, Ox Trade Ltd, De First Union Integrated Services, Amity Plus Ltd and Seven Energy International Ltd.