Federal high court judge Abdulazeez Anka ordered the
immediate forfeiture of 7.6 billion naira ($21 million, 17.9 million euros)
allegedly held in local bank accounts by Diezani Alisn-Maodueke, who was once
one of Africa’s most prominent female politicians.
Nigeria’s anti-graft Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), which accuses Alison-Madueke of corruption, argued in court
that she had illicitly laundered the funds with the help of top oil officials.
Since leaving office in 2015, Alison-Madueke has been
implicated in bribery, fraud, misuse of public funds and money laundering cases
in Nigeria, Britain, Italy and the United States.
The former president of the global oil cartel OPEC, the
first female to hold the post, Alison-Madueke has always denied the allegations
which involve billions of dollars syphoned from oil deals and state accounts.
The ruling followed two applications by the EFCC which
earlier this month successfully seized properties worth $44 million that
Alison-Madueke allegedly purchased with the proceeds of corruption.
President Muhammadu Buhari, elected in 2015 on an
anti-corruption platform, is seeking to stamp-out Nigeria’s widespread graft.
AFP
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