Diezani arraigned before London court on fresh charges of receiving bribes for contracts

FORMER petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke has been arraigned before the a London high court charged with fresh bribery allegations in addition to the 13-counts bordering on money laundering that she is already facing.

Since leaving office in 2015 and going into exile in the UK, Ms Alison-Madueke has been the subject of numerous investigations in Nigeria and internationally. She has been asked to forfeit UK properties worth over £11m and has been forced to surrender about N7.6bn ($17.4m) hidden in a Nigerian bank to the government.

In July 2019, Diezani had jewellery worth $40m, including a customised gold iPhone, seized from her after a Lagos federal high court ordered their forfeiture to the federal government. She appealed the decision, trying to get them returned to her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) but lost the case at an appeal in October that year.

Earlier today, Diezani appeared in a London court over charges of receiving bribes in the form of cash, flights on private jets, luxury goods and the use of high-end properties in Britain in return for awarding oil contracts. EFCC officials have hailed the latest arraignment, saying the counts are diametrically different from the 13 charges already pending against Ms Alison-Madueke.

In court today, British prosecutor, Andy Young, alleged that Ms Alison-Madueke accepted a wide range of advantages in cash and kind from people who wanted to receive or continue to receive oil contracts which were worth billions of dollars. Ms Alison-Madueke was not asked to enter a plea when the charges were read out today.

EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale, said the charges preferred against Diezani at the London court are diametrically different from the 13-count charges bordering on money laundering the anti-graft agency had raised against her. He added that it is instructive to note that criminality is criminality, irrespective of jurisdictional differences.

Mr Oyewale said: "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."

He added that the EFCC has obtained an arrest warrant and extradition proceedings have been initiated to bring the former minister to trial in Nigeria. "The commission is on course on her trial, she will soon have her day in our courts,” Mr Oyewale stressed.