By Austin Ogwuda
FORMER Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Alison Madueke has filed a law suit seeking perpetual injunction against his former wife Mrs. Diezani Madueke who was former Minister of Petroleum Resources seeking for a perpetual injunction restraining her from further use of his name.
Madueke is seeking for an order of perpetual injunction restraining Diezani from further using his names following the dissolution of their marriage and for the court to likewise compel Diezani to revert to her maiden name and to publicly announce in a national newspaper, both in Nigeria and the UK, that she has ceased using his surname.
Madueke is a former Military Governor of Anambra and Imo states married Diezani on June 30, 1999, under the Marriage pointed out that Diezani had previously filed for divorce at the Nassarawa State High Court in Mararaba Gurku in November 2021, citing an irreconcilable breakdown of their marriage, seeking to end their union formally.
He stated that he did not oppose the suit, resulting in the court’s dissolution of the marriage, yet Diezani persists in using his surname, despite the formal termination of their marital union.
According to him, “On the 13th day of April 2022, judgment was delivered in Suit No. NSD/MG345/2021 by Hon. Justice A.A. Ozegya dissolving the marriage between the petitioner and the respondent on the ground that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.
The former Naval chief has therefore filed a petition before the Lagos State High Court, Nigeria seeking a legal declaration to end his marriage to Diezani and requesting that she stop using his last name.
He is asking the court to order the former Minister of Petroleum Resources to revert to her maiden name, Agama.
This was contained in Madueke’s petition for jactitation of marriage (declaration that a marital union has ended).
“Even though the marriage has been dissolved and is now legally finalised, the respondent continues to use the petitioner’s first name (Alison) and surname (Madueke) as her own without any justification or consent from the petitioner.
“It is now more than two years that the respondent continues to use the name of the petitioner to his embarrassment”.
Madueke further revealed that he directed his legal representatives to serve Diezani a formal request on December 14, 2023, demanding that she ceased using his surname and revert to her maiden name, Agama to no avail.
Madueke in the the petition deposed as follows:
*That the Respondent (Agama, ex wife) has continued to hold out herself as the wife of the petitioner even when the marriage has been dissolved.
*That the Respondent is undergoing Criminal trials in both Nigeria and the United Kingdom. The Charge in Nigeria is Suit No. FUC/ABI/CR/208/2010.
*That the Respondent faces public allegations of corruption and financial misconduct for which trials are ongoing for both.
*That the persistent portrayal of the Respondent as the spouse of the Petitioner is creating embarrassment, a misleading impression and tarnishing the reputation, integrity and public image of the Petitioner.
*That the Respondent’s continued use of the Petitioner’s first and surname falsely suggests to the public a continuing relationship between the parties though same has since legally ended.
*That the Respondent’s continued use of the Petitioner’s first and family names poses a significant risk of legal and financial harm to the Petitioner.
*That the Petitioner (Admiral Alison Madueke) seeks the intervention of this Honourable Court to prevent the respondent from further using his first name and surname, thereby safeguarding his image, personality, and reputation.
Diezani, who was the First Female President of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), elected in November 2014, was allegedly accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC of embezzling $2.5bn from the Nigerian Government during her tenure from 2010 to 2015 under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
The lingering corruption allegations led to her arrest and legal proceedings in both Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
*Source: Punch
*Photo caption: Rear Admiral Alison Madueke (rtd) and the divorced spouse, Diezena
