EFCC files fresh charges against Diezani and meets with UK authorities in bid to get her extradited

ECONOMIC and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials have filed fresh charges against former petroleum minister of Diezani Alison-Madueke amid a renewed bid to get her extradited from the UK to face charges in Nigeria.

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 recently been forced to surrender about N7.6bn hidden in a Nigerian bank to the government.

EFCC acting chairman Ibrahim Magu said he believes that only about 15% of funds allegedly misappropriated by the former minister have been recovered. He added that the commission was working with the UK on her case, noting that efforts were being made to extradite her back to Nigeria to face trial.

In a bid to take the matter further, the EFCC intends to file a fresh suit against Ms Alison-Madueke and her close associate oil tycoon Jide Omokore. As part of this process, the EFCC will subsequently apply for a bench warrant against the former minister as part of the process to kick-start her extradition from the UK.

One EFCC source said: “We will amend the charges to include her name and then we will apply for a bench warrant because there are many diplomatic processes involved. You cannot extradite a person from foreign land without evidence that the person is wanted or the person’s arrest has been ordered by a court.

"A bench warrant is an arrest warrant that is ordered by a judge against the defendant in a criminal case. It is typically issued in the case of a failure to appear for trial.”

As far back as 2016, the EFCC had filed charges against ms Alison-Madueke and Mr Omokore along with several others on nine counts bordering on money laundering and procurement fraud. Her co-accused included Mr Aluko;  a former managing director of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Victor Briggs and a former group executive director of  exploration and production of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Abiye Membere.

However, before taking the defendants’ plea, Justice Nyako had requested that the names of the accused persons not present in court be taken off the charge. Consequently, Mr Aluko whose name appeared in all the counts as well as that of Diezani, were deleted from the charge.

Now, however, they have been added to the charge sheet and Mr Magi said he has met with UK authorities as part of the process of extraditing the former minister. Diezani has been accused of mismanaging oil funds to the tune of $20bn during her time as minister.