With
many accusations flying in and out against former Minister of
Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, she has finally opened up on the
allegations.
Former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke
Embattled former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani
Alison-Madueke, has denied allegations levelled against her by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, daring the anti-graft agency
to provide incontrovertible any evidence against her, reports Punch.
According to her, President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption fight is aimed at demonising and destroying a few Nigerians.
Punch reports that the former minister said this in a viral
statement on a popular blog, www.stelladimokokorkus.com, while reacting
to several media reports about her on Saturday.
Recently, a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered that the $153m
which was illegally lodged by the ex-minister through cronies in three
banks be temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government.
But, the former Petroleum minister has denied ownership of the money.
She said, “I wish to state that I cannot forfeit what was never
mine. I do not know the basis on which the EFCC has chosen to say that I
am the owner of these funds as no evidence was provided against me
before the order was obtained and they have not in fact served me with
the order or any evidence since they obtained it. As of the time of my
writing this rebuttal (January 19, 2017), the EFCC has still not
furnished me or my lawyers with a copy of the order.”
In a terse text message on Saturday night, the spokesman for the
EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, however, challenged the former minister to
come back to Nigeria if she believed she had done nothing wrong.
“She (Diezani) should return to the country and clear her name,” Uwujaren said without making further comments.
In her statement, Diezani also denied ownership of an $18m (N5.7bn)
mansion located on Margaret Thatcher Close, Asokoro, Abuja, which was
seized by the EFCC in June.
In a report by a television network, Al Jazeera, the anti-graft
agency noted that the items in the house included jewellery, furniture
and a bulletproof gymnasium worth about $2m.
The ex-minister slammed the acting EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu,
for taking the Al Jazeera reporter to the mansion and misleading the
public.
Diezani said the house did not belong to her but to an oil magnate,
Mr. Kola Aluko. Aluko is Diezani’s alleged front who is on the EFCC
watch list.
The ex-minister said, “On June 13, 2016, the EFCC once again
took their well-trodden path to the media; this time claiming that they
had ‘discovered’ a mansion in Asokoro, Abuja, worth $18m (about N9bn)
which they purported to belong to me.
“The EFCC went to the extent of bringing in Al Jazeera, an
international TV station, to air a damaging documentary against me in
this regard, showing a particular residential building in Asokoro,
Abuja, which they told Al Jazeera belonged to me.
“The EFCC Chairman Ibrahim Magu, personally took the Al Jazeera
reporter to the building, alleging that it belonged to me. It has since
become apparent that the house belongs to a company owned by Mr. Kola
Aluko.
“If this is not a witch-hunt or a personal vendetta against me,
how is it that one of our country’s premier investigative agencies was
unable to avail itself of facts that are freely available in the public
domain?
“Since the EFCC claimed that the alleged $18m Asokoro property
belongs to me, then it should kindly produce the ‘authentic’ Certificate
of Occupancy and land registry information and any other relevant
information as proof of my ownership of the property.”
The former petroleum minister, who served from 2010 to 2015, also
denied involvement in the $1.3bn Malabu oil scandal. The scandal
involves the controversial sale of OPL 245, one of the most lucrative
oil blocs in Nigeria.
Diezani said the matter was a legal issue which was handled by the
then Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN).
She said, “I wish to categorically state that I have never held
any discussion on this matter with any individual or entities outside
of official channels. As the minister of petroleum resources, I did not
participate in any activity relating to financial payments on the Malabu
matter, other than those statutorily mandated to the Minister of
Petroleum Resources by the Petroleum Act. My role in this matter was a
purely statutory one as required by law in the Petroleum Act.”
The ex-minister further slammed the EFCC for misleading the media regarding her estate in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
She said the estate was not worth billions of naira but only N394m
and that she declared it in her Asset Declaration form which was
submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau.
Diezani said, “On November 9, 2016, the EFCC officials visited
our family home in Yenagoa as pre-agreed and they were escorted around
the premises. I was therefore completely shocked to once again see my
name sensationally splashed across the front pages of newspapers and
widely circulated on the Internet, with blaring headlines such as ‘EFCC
uncovers Diezani’s multibillion-naira estate’.
“There was absolutely nothing ‘hidden’ or ‘concealed’ about the
home. I had declared it openly as required by law, in my Asset
Declaration forms (Annex-4B). Yet the EFCC announced that it ‘just
discovered’ my ‘hidden estate’ and labelled it a ‘multibillion-naira
estate’ even though it had been given the Bill of Quantities, showing
actual amount spent.
“The EFCC (officials) were taken on a tour of the compound
which consisted of a main house, and two outhouses – an obi (meeting
bungalow) and a staff quarters (BQ) building – above which we built
three guest rooms and a parlour.
“The other two structures are the gate and generator houses.
Construction began in late 2011 and was handled in phases. During the
visit, the EFCC was given the bill of quantities, which up to the time
construction stopped in early 2015, due to my illness, was at
approximately N394m which was declared in the Code of Conduct
documentation attached (the costs were partially funded by a loan – see
code of conduct – Annex4B, the work is still uncompleted and the
contractor is still being owed). Building costs escalated as a result of
delays in construction and external factors such as the extreme
flooding of late 2012 that covered most of our areas in the Niger
Delta.”
The former minister, while listing her achievements, maintained that she left over $5.6bn in LNG Dividend Funds.
She said under her watch, there was virtually no case of fuel scarcity in the country.
In a parting shot to the EFCC, Diezani said, “The fight against
corruption in Nigeria will be far better served if the EFCC focused on
incontrovertible facts, as opposed to media sensationalism and
completely distorted stories, in its bid to demonise and destroy a few
specially chosen Nigerians.”
Reacting to Diezani’s statement, the Chairman of the Presidential
Advisory Committee against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), advised
that the former minister save her energy for her trial which may come up
soon.
Sagay, who spoke in his personal capacity and not as the chairman
of the PCAC, explained that corrupt people in power usually use fronts
like the mafia.
He said, “She should reserve her energy for her trial. If a
$153m was found in accounts linked to her and she was the minister
selling oil on behalf of the government, one does not need to put two
and two together.
“Her statement is premature; let her prepare it for her defence.
“I am sure you have watched the movie, ‘The Godfather’. The
real godfather never shoots anyone by himself. All he needs to do is
press a button and someone else will do it but that doesn’t mean that
the murder cannot be traced to him. So, when Diezani’s trial begins, the
truth will be made known.”
The Director General of the Voice of Nigeria, Mr. Osita Okechukwu,
also asked the former minster to come home and face the law instead of
staying in the comfort of another country to throw verbal missiles.
“She was right when she said the money confiscated from her by
the EFCC is not her money. Of course, it is not her money, it is the
money which belong to the long-suffering Nigerian taxpayers which she
took and converted to personal use.
“While in office as super minister, she never thought a day
would come when she would be called to give account, but today, there
are questions she does not have answers to. The EFCC is a legal entity
set up by law. If tomorrow I leave office as DG VON and there is reason
for the EFCC to investigate me, they will and I will not be hiding under
any guise to escape justice.
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