The Nigerian presidency has
confirmed the arrest of a former
Petroleum Minister, Diezani
Alison-Madueke, in London, over
allegations of corruption and
money laundering.
“The government is aware of the
arrest and all the government
investigative agencies are working
very closely with the British law
enforcement,” the Senior Special
Assistant to the President, Garba
Shehu, told PREMIUM TIMES
exclusively on Sunday.
“Nigerian authorities are saying
for the first time that matters are
being handled with seriousness
and deep commitment. Nobody
wants to give the impression that
this government is frivolous and
unserious.
“For this reason, government is
only confirming active
collaboration. Beyond this, we are
not saying more. In due course,
Nigerians will be briefed on
updates as appropriate.”
Asked about the identities of the
other four people arrested with
the former minister, Mr. Shehu
declined comments, saying, “as I
said no one is willing to provide
further details at this point”.
The presidential confirmation
came two days after Mrs. Alison-
Madueke was arrested and granted
bail by the UK National Crime
Agency over allegations of
corruption and money laundering.
PREMIUM TIMES had on Friday
exclusively reported the arrest of
the former minister, alongside
four others.
The identities of the four other
people arrested along with Mrs.
Alison-Madueke, remained
unknown.
The embattled former minister,
who was one of the most
influential officials of the
President Goodluck Jonathan
administration, and her four
colleagues were granted
“conditional bail” late that same
day.
As part of the bail conditions, Mrs.
Alison-Madueke’s travel
documents and those of others
were reportedly seized, effectively
barring them from travelling outside the UK,
pending the conclusion of investigation and
their arraignment in court.
It is not however clear when the Minister and
her accomplices would be arraigned in court.
The UK NCA had explained on Saturday that
investigation into allegations of corruption
against the former minister of Petroleum
Resources and the four other people arrested
on Friday had been on since 2013.
The agency said in an update on its website that
investigation of Mrs. Alison-Madueke was
originally handled under the Proceeds of
Corruption Unit (PCU) domiciled at the London
Metropolitan Police Service in 2013 until earlier
this year when the case was transferred to it.
The NCA said following the creation of the
International Corruption Unit (ICU) in line with
the UK Anti-Corruption Plan, the PCU at the
Metropolitan Police and the Overseas Anti-
Corruption Unit of the City of London Police
were scrapped.
The ICU has since become the UK’s prime
agency for the investigation of bribery of
foreign public officials by individuals or
companies from the UK, and money laundering
by corrupt foreign officials and their associates.
A controversial minister
Mrs. Alison-Madueke, one of the most
influential officials of the President Goodluck
Jonathan administration, was first appointed
into the federal cabinet in 2007.
A former board member of Shell Petroleum
Development Company of Nigeria, she was later
appointed Minister of Transport by former
President Umaru Yar’adua.
In December 2008, she was redeployed to the
mines and steel development ministry.
After former Vice President Goodluck Jonathan
became acting president, Mrs. Alison-Madueke
was appointed Nigeria’s first female petroleum
minister in February 2010, a position Mrs.
Alison-Madueke held till May 29, 2015 when Mr.
Jonathan left office.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s tenure as petroleum
minister turned out one of Nigeria’s most
controversial, amid unending allegations of
massive corruption.
Under her watch, dubious oil marketers stole
trillions of naira of oil subsidy money. She
retained her position despite an indictment by
the House of Representatives which
investigated the fuel subsidy scandal.
Probes by independent audit firms, including
the KPMG and PriceWaterhousecoopers,
confirmed that billions of dollars of oil money
were missing. The most notable case of missing
money involved $20billion in 2014, as alleged by
a former Central Bank governor, Lamido
Sanusi.
Several shady deals exposed by PREMIUM
TIMES and confirmed by government and
independent auditors were linked to the former
minister and her cronies.
Long before her stint in the oil and gas sector,
Mrs. Alison-Madueke was investigated by the
Nigerian Senate on allegation she paid N30.9
billion to contractors while she held office as
transportation minister.
In 2009, the Senate indicted and recommended
her prosecution for allegedly transferring N1.2
billion into a private account of a toll company
without due process.
Regardless of the indictments, Mrs. Alison-
Madueke got elected in November 2014 as the
first female president of oil producing countries
alliance, OPEC.
The former minister consistently denies
wrongdoing. In June, after leaving office, she
rejected all allegations of embezzlement saying
she never stole from Nigeria.
