Diezani Allison-Madueke who is Nigeria’s former Petroleum Resources Minister has sued the Attorney General of the Federation and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged libel.
Africa Today News, New York reports that she is claiming ₦100bn to be paid to her in damages, according to a writ of summons filed on her behalf at the Federal High Court, Abuja, by her team of lawyers led by Mike Ozekhome (SAN).
A copy of it seen by Channels Television on Friday night directed the ‘Defendants jointly and severally to pay to the Claimant the sum of N100,000,000,000.00 (100 billion naira) only as damages for the false, injurious, malicious and libelous publications against the Claimant in the 1st Defendant’s publishing platform, and at the instance of both the 1st and the 2nd Defendants’.
In the writ of summons dated May 26, 2023, the former minister is also demanding that the EFCC and AGF apologise to her in three national dailies over what she described as “the false, injurious, malicious and libelous publications” against her since she left Nigeria in 2015.
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Both EFCC and the AGF were given 14 days from the service of the summons to enter their defence.
In another report, Zamfara state Governor, Bello Matawalle earlier in the week came out to allege that the chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, asked him to give him $2million.
On Wednesday, Matawalle asked Bawa to ensure that the EFCC’s probe didn’t only target outgoing governors, but also presidency officials.
Reacting to Matawalle’s comments, the EFCC insisted that it was probing the governor for allegedly diverting N70billion meant for contracts in the state.
But speaking in an interview with BBC Hausa on Friday, Matawalle claimed he is being investigated because he “didn’t offer the EFCC chairperson the money he requested from him’.