Diezani Alison-Madueke, the former minister of petroleum resources, has requested the Federal High Court in Abuja to nullify the bench warrant that was issued in July 2020 against her.
She made the plea in a motion that her lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), filed on notice.
In her motion, the former minister requested that the deadline for requesting an order to discharge the bench warrant be extended.
Alison-Madueke, a minister under former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration from 2010 to 2015, was wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly engaging in corruption while in office.
She left the country shortly before President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office in 2015.
The commission had in an ex-parte motion sought a bench warrant against Alison-Madueke.
Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, who granted the order on July 24, 2020, directed that the ex-minister should be arrested by security agents anywhere within or outside the country.
Alison-Madueke, who sought an order granting leave to apply for the order, also urged the court to strike out her name as “a defendant in charge number; FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018 between the Federal Republic of Nigeria V. Diezani Alison Madueke, pending before the court.
The charge was brought pursuant to Sections 36 (1) and (8), 35 of the 1999 Constitution (as altered); Section 1, 113, 114, 382 (4 & 5) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015; and under the inherent powers of the court as preserved by Section 6(6A) of the 1999 Constitution.
