Diezani Allison-Madueke, the former minister of petroleum, is the subject of an arrest order and a request for her immediate extradition from the Bola Tinubu government.
According to information obtained by Anaedoonline.ng, the request was made to the Crown Prosecution Services of the United Kingdom by Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
After learning that the request had been made in writing to the AGF’s office by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) earlier in October, President Bola Tinubu reportedly ordered its submission.
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Speaking with The Punch, a top Federal Government source said in making the extradition request, the office of the AGF cited Section 2 (2) of Nigeria’s Extradition Act, CAP E25, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and the London Scheme of Extradition within the Commonwealth otherwise known as “The Scheme,” a multilateral treaty which governs extradition between the United Kingdom and Nigeria.
“The EFCC established a prima facie case against Allison-Madueke in a letter to the office of the AGF, after which a magistrate was ordered to issue a warrant of arrest. The certified true copy of the warrant of arrest was then attached to the extradition request written to the UK government by the AGF on the orders of the President,” he said.
He went on to say that the UK authorities’ ongoing internal evaluation of Allison-Madueke’s plea was the reason behind the delay in her extradition from the UK to Nigeria.
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An other reliable source verified that the AGF has written to the UK government and submitted an arrest warrant for Diezani’s extradition to Nigeria; however, extradition procedures are typically difficult because they require the recipient nation’s agreement.
“It is true that the AGF has submitted a warrant of arrest and written to the UK government for Diezani’s extradition to Nigeria, but extradition processes are usually cumbersome as it is subject to the approval of the recipient country. Nigeria has made its request, but the UK has to subject it to their laws, and other international institutional bottlenecks that are in place in the UK.
“So, it is the UK that’ll determine how fast Diezani will be returned to Nigeria,” he told the newspaper.
The ongoing trial of Alison-Madueke in the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London is allegedly the result of an informal interagency cooperation between the EFCC and the UK’s NCA.
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Remember that the anti-graft agency, the EFCC, had announced on October 2 that it had begun extraditing Alison Madueke from the United Kingdom back to Nigeria on 13 counts related to money laundering.
The commission further disclosed that the United Arab Emirates, Dubai, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Nigeria were all included in the money laundering allegations for which Alison-Madueke is responsible to the EFCC.
The UK’s National Crime Agency accused Alison Madueke of accepting bribes in exchange for awarding multi-million-pound contracts for oil and gas in August and filed a court complaint against her.
The former minister appeared before the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London earlier this month regarding an alleged £100,000 bribe.
EFCC Secures Arrest Warrant for Former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke
Michael Snow, the district judge, set a £70,000 bail for Alison-Madueke. Alison-Madueke was further sentenced by Snow to an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, an electronic tag that she was required to wear at all times, and a £70,000 surety that had to be paid before she was allowed to leave the courthouse.
On October 30, she is scheduled to appear in court again at Southwark Crown Court, which hears serious criminal matters.
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