The filings were done by Alexander Pencu, a partner of
Meister Seelig & Fein LLP, attorneys for the Federal Republic of Nigeria
and Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of
Justice of Nigeria.
The affected banks were listed as follows; “Citibank, N.A.
(“Citibank”) , Allied Irish Banks plc (“Allied Irish”), HSBC Bank USA (“HSBC”),
Standard New York, Inc. (“Standard New York”), Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas
(“Deutsche Bank”), J.P. Morgan Chase (“JPMorgan”), United Bank for Africa
(“UBA”), Bank of Cyprus, Fortis Private Banking Singapore Limited (“Fortis”),
and Standard Chartered International (USA) Ltd. (‘Standard Chartered”).
New York federal judge, Lorna Schofield who granted the
request asked the affected banks to allow the Nigerian government access the
information they need to prove their case.
Former political office holders whose accounts are expected
to be accessed by the Nigerian government include former President Goodluck
Jonathan and his wife, Patience Faka Jonathan; former oil minister who is now
late, Rilwanu Lukman; Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former petroleum minister
during the tenure of Mr Jonathan; and Allison Amaechina Madueke; former
attorney general and minister of justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke.
Others named in the subpoena are Taofiq Tijani; Grace Taiga;
Mohammad Kuchazi; one Michael Quinn, who died in 2014; James Nolan; Adam Quinn;
and Ibrahim Dikko.
It is also speculated that some officials of the banks might
testify in the case. Nigeria’s chances of overturning the $9.6 billion
arbitration award lie on proving the 2010 gas supply arrangement was a sham
designed to fail by P&ID and government officials.
This is however coming after former President Goodluck
Jonathan denied having an account or property abroad.
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