… EFCC Hails Arraignment of Diezani in London Court
Former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, appeared in a London court on Monday to face charges bordering on receiving bribes in the form of cash.
Other charges against the former minister were receiving luxury goods, flights on private jets and the use of high-end properties in Britain in return for awarding oil contracts.
Alison-Madueke was arrested in London in 2015, shortly after the expiration of her office, and was charged in August with six bribery offences.
She has spent the past eight years on police bail, living in St John’s Wood, an expensive area of London.
She made her first court appearance at Westminster Magistrates Court, and spoke only to give her name, date of birth and address. She was not asked to enter a plea.
It was gathered that, the charges against her, read out in court, all related to events alleged to have taken place in London during her time as a Nigerian minister.
EFCC Hails Arraignment of Diezani in London Court
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, welcomes, with keen interest, the arraignment of a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke at the Westminister’s Court in London, United Kingdom, following alleged bribery allegations.
Although the charges preferred against her at the London court, are diametrically different from the 13-count charges bordering on money laundering the EFCC has raised against her, it is instructive to note that criminality is criminality, irrespective of jurisdictional differences. No crime can go unpunished. The money laundering charges for which Madueke is answerable to the EFCC, cover jurisdictions in Dubai, United Kingdom, United States of America and Nigeria.
To bring the former Minister to trial in Nigeria, an arrest warrant has been obtained and extradition proceedings have been initiated. The Commission is on course on her trial. She will soon have her day in our courts.
