Justice Muslim Hassan, of the federal High court Abuja has ordered the forfiture $153 Recovered from Former Nigerian oil minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
The Judge who gave the order, gave Sterling Bank and any other interested party 14 days to appear before him to prove the legitimacy of the monies, failing which the funds would be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The seized money, according to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was stolen from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and stashed in three banks in Nigeria, in US dollars and Naira.
Out of the loot, N23.4 billion was kept in Sterling Bank Plc. The sum of N9.08 billion was kept in First Bank Plc and $5m in Access Bank Plc.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had earlier requested for the temporary forfeiture of the funds and the Judge ruled in their favour.
The Court was adjourned till January 24, 2016 to enable respondents to appear in court to show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
