Justice Valentine Ashi of a Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Apo, Abuja, has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the Police , the Department of States Security Service and all other security agencies to arrest a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke within 72 hours.
The order was made following an ex-parte application made by counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Msuur Denga, praying for an order of the court to issue a warrant of arrest against Mrs. Alison-Madueke, to enable the Commission arraign her for alleged financial crimes in Nigeria.
The EFCC investigated the former minister along with Jide Omokore, a former Chairman, Atlantic Energy Drilling Company, following a petition dated October 2, 2013, from Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) bordering on money laundering and official corruption.
The EFCC disclosed in a statement that investigations into the petition revealed that Mrs. Alison-Madueke as supervising minister of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was found to have engaged in illicit and monumental fraudulent dealings in oil transactions, which she entered into on behalf of the Federal government.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke and Mr. Omokore are also alleged to have accepted and given gifts in properties located at Penthouse 22, Block B, Admiralty Estate, Ikoyi, and Penthouse 21, Building 5, Block C, Banana Island, Lagos. They are to be arraigned on February 25, 2019 on a five-count charge for the offences, which violate Sections 26(1) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
When the matter came up on Monday, the Commission however filed application for warrant of arrest, condition precedent for Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s extradition protocol to bring her back home to face trail.
The prosecution told the court that Mrs. Alison-Madueke, who is currently in the United Kingdom, jetted out of the country while investigations into the alleged fraudulent acts were ongoing.
The court granted the ex-parte application, and ordered the security agencies to provide Mrs. Alison-Madueke within 72 hours, for her to face the charge preferred against her.
“The Inspector General of Police, the Chairman of the EFCC, the Attorney General, the Department of State Security services, are hereby ordered in the name of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria to apprehend and arrest the first defendant and produce her before this court for further directives within 72 hours,” the judge ruled.