A federal high court in Lagos has directed 19 banks to seize assets belonging to businessmen Olajide Omokore and Kolawole Aluko, both associates of former petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke.
The assets are to be held until the court decides the fate of a suit seeking the recovery of 1.7 billion dollars both men and their oil firms owe the federal government.
Companies linked to the two lifted Nigerian crude under government’s Strategic Alliance Agreements, when Alison-Madueke was minister but they were reportedly not qualified for the contracts and allegedly gave bribes.
The federal government had asked the court to restrain the two from giving instructions, and receiving payment from the 19 banks in Nigeria, eight outside the country, and eight other companies.
