Eight years after she fled to the United Kingdom, UK, to evade arrest and prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for the monumental corruption she allegedly perpetrated during her tenure as Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum, the wheel of justice may have begun to grind for Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Indeed, Alison-Madueke will soon have her day in court as the British police announced, Tuesday, that they had charged her with bribery offences, saying they suspected she had accepted bribes in return for awarding multi-million pound oil and gas contracts.
Alison-Madueke, 63,was Nigeria’s petroleum minister from 2010 to 2015, under former President Goodluck Jonathan. She also acted as president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 2014-2015.
“We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million pound contracts,” said Andy Kelly, Head of the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) International Corruption Unit.
“These charges are a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex international investigation.”
Alison-Madueke was arrested in London in October 2015, a few months after leaving office, and has also been the subject of investigations in Nigeria and the United States.
She has previously denied allegations of corruption but could not be reached on Tuesday.
“A London lawyer who was acting for her in 2015 did not immediately respond to a request for comment,” Reuters reported.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and top oil producer, has one of the most corrupt political systems in the world and its former colonial ruler Britain has been a destination of choice for Nigerian kleptocrats seeking to enjoy their wealth.
