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At the peak of her powers as OPEC
president: Diezani Alison-Madueke
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Investigation
still on-going, says security source
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Ex-NNPC
official faces arrest
As anxiety mounts over
the identities of suspects arrested alongside former Petroleum Minister,
Diezani Alison-Madueke, indications emerged last night that she and other
suspects might not be charged to court in Nigeria soon. This came as chairman of
the Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), said
he was not shocked about the former minister’s arrest, especially as she had
earlier been indicted by the Senate, noting, however, that his committee had no
role to play in her prosecution.
According
to a top security official working with one of the anti-crime agencies, the
reason is that investigation into the money laundering case and bribery is yet
to be concluded.
The
official, who spoke in confidence with Vanguard last night, said that the
investigation had not reached a point of pressing charges against the suspects,
citing the length of time it took both Nigerian and British security agencies
to investigate a former political office holder, before trial.
The
official said: “Look, the idea of charging Diezani or any of the suspects to
court does not arise now because investigation is going on in Nigeria and
overseas.
Vanguard
report continues:
“You
will recall that it took some years to investigate the case of a former
political office holder in Nigeria and London before we arrived at a decision
to charge him to court,” the security source said in response to Vanguard’s
enquiry last night.
That
notwithstanding, the British national crime agency has ordered Mrs Diezani
Allison-Madueke and four other suspects, who were arrested and released on
conditional bail last Friday, to report today at the Charing Cross Police
Station.
There
were fears that they could be charged today or this week for their alleged
involvement in money laundering and bribery.
Ex-NNPC official faces
arrest
But
as the investigation progresses, a top-ranking former official of a subsidiary
of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, might be picked up by
security agencies as part of the probe of the former minister going on in
London and Nigeria.
A
source close to the matter, told Vanguard that the top ex-oil official from the
South-South, who held sway in many NNPC subsidiaries before working directly
with the embattled former minister, ran into trouble because of numerous
questionable deals he allegedly effected during the period.
The
man is described by many top oil sector officials as someone who aided and
abetted many financial misdeeds, which caused the national oil firm a fortune
during Mrs Allison-Madueke’s tenure.
Although
the official was surreptitiously removed from office shortly after the minister
left office last May, the man is said to be under the radar of both Nigerian
and British security agencies.
It
could not also be established last night whether he would be picked up and
moved to London as part of the investigation by the British National Crime
Agency, NCA.
A
source in NNPC described the former official in question as having played a key
role in causing the state oil firm to lose huge sums of money to private
pockets through questionable deals sanctioned by political influence.
The
other two oil barons reportedly arrested alongside the former oil minister,
were said to be her close business associates who had their way in virtually
all major oil deals in the NNPC when the minister was in charge.
Both
suspects, said to be from the South-West were reported to wield considerable
financial muscle, having also benefitted immensely from the subsidy regime of
the last administration, which cost the nation a whopping N1.2 trillion yearly
from the N425 billion, which the Yar’Adua regime spent.
One
of the suspects, aged 21, is said to be related to the former minister but his
identity was still being kept under wraps by the NCA as at last night.
An
official of the British National Crime Agency, who spoke with Vanguard, had
explained that the identities of all the suspects would only be unveiled at the
point of charging them to court.
The
official explained that the law establishing the NCA does not allow it to name
those being investigated before charging them to court.
The
official said: “Indeed, we cannot name the five persons who were arrested and
granted police conditional bail until we are ready to charge them to court.
“The
law does not permit us to do so and we will release appropriate information to
the media as the case progresses,” the official said in response to an enquiry
by Vanguard.
The
Presidency has washed off its hands in the current ordeal of the former
minister and her accomplices, saying, however, that the arrests might be
Britain’s response to the recent plea by President Muhammadu Buhari to world
leaders to help Nigeria recover its stolen wealth. The Senior Special Assistant
on Media to the President, Garba Shehu, is reported to have confirmed this to a
television station when asked to confirm whether the arrest of the former
minister by Britain was requested by the Presidency.
I’m not shocked, says
Sagay
Reacting
to the arrest and subsequent bail of former Pretroleum Minister, Diezani
Allison-Madueke, chairman of the newly constituted Presidential Advisory
Committee on Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) said he was not shocked and
threw his weight behind the former minister’s arrest.
Sagay,
in a chat with Vanguard last night, said: “That is the correct thing to do, it
is to be expected. No one is surprised because we all knew her story, even when
she was minister, we all know the number of times she was indicted by the
Senate. Her story is out there, it is no shock to me at all.”
Asked
about the role of his committee on the issue, he said: “We are not an executive
agency, we don’t arrest, we don’t prosecute. Our role is more of co-ordination
of the activities of various agencies.
“We
deliberate and find out what their shortcomings are, what can make them more
effective, what they need in order to combat corruption effectively. We make
recommendations to make them stronger and more effective, we also look at the
whole administrative justice system, see the weakness in them, why cases are
taking such a long time, why the prosecutions are failing.
“What
we are doing is to make the system stronger and more effective. We also ensure
cooperation among the ICPC and EFCC and Department of State Service.”
On
whether his committee will be advising the Federal Government to extradite Mrs
Allison-Madueke, he answered in the negative, adding that it was “the work of
the Ministry of Justice”.
On
the possibility of his committee appearing in a London court to give evidence,
Sagay said his committee would not be appearing in court, stressing again that
it was the job of the Ministry of Justice.
On
whether or not evidence will be sent against her to the UK if necessary, Sagay
said that was the job of the EFCC.
“Let me tell you what we
do. We will strengthen the EFCC to do its job. For example, we can help them in
training for investigation, prosecution but when it comes to actual activity,
they are the ones to do it. We are behind the scene.”
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