Alex Enumah in Abuja
Amidst fresh request for the extradition of a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, over alleged $2.5 billion fraud, a Westminster Magistrate’s Court on Monday, adjourned to November 2025 its hearing of bribery allegations said to have been committed in the UK.
How this adjournment will affect the extradition of Alison-Madueke to Nigeria is not yet clear. Will the UK release the defendant to go to Nigeria for prosecution, or keep her till 2025 and maybe beyond when the Westminster Magistrate’s Court concludes its case?
Since 2015, when she left Nigeria for treatment in the UK, the former Petroleum Resources Minister during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan is being accused of one offence or the other, leading to the seizure of assets linked to her both within and outside the country.
While she is currently facing trial of a bribery charge to the tune of £100,000 before a Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, the Nigeria government is seeking to prosecute her in Nigeria over a $2.5 billion fraud.
The past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for eight years tried unsuccessfully to extradite the former minister to face corruption and abuse of office charges against her.
The Federal Government though succeeded in getting permission from Nigeria’s court to seize some assets linked to her.
According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the said assets, which included landed property and jewelries, amongst others, formed proceeds of crime and unlawful activities of the minister between 2010 and 2015.
Alison-Madueke had served as minister both in the administrations of late Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan.
While the UK government had commenced prosecution before the Westminster Magistrate’s Court on October 2, the Federal Government through the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), lodged a request before the Crown Prosecution Services of the United Kingdom, seeking the extradition of Allison-Madueke.
Besides, the AGF submitted a warrant of arrest of the former minister based on the orders of President Bola Tinubu. The EFCC had officially written to the office of the Minister of Justice early in the month for Alison-Madueke’s arrest and subsequent extradition.
The anti-graft agency had predicated its request on grounds that a prima facie case had been established against her, prompting a magistrate to issue the warrant of arrest.
This certified warrant was then attached to the extradition request submitted to the UK government by the AGF on the orders of President Tinubu.
The extradition request is based on Nigeria’s Extradition Act, CAP E25, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and the London Scheme of Extradition within the Commonwealth, commonly known as “The Scheme.”
This multilateral treaty governs extradition between the United Kingdom and Nigeria.
Meanwhile, an ongoing internal review by the UK government has been blamed for the delay in bringing the former minister back to Nigeria.
Extradition processes are typically intricate and subject to the approval of the recipient country, in this case, the UK. An informal interagency collaboration between the EFCC and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has played a pivotal role in the ongoing trial of Alison-Madueke at the Westminster Magistrate’s Court in London.
Recalling previous developments, the EFCC had disclosed on October 2 that it had commenced the extradition of Alison-Madueke from the UK to Nigeria. She faces 13-count charges related to money laundering, which were brought against her by the anti-graft agency.
These charges span across jurisdictions in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Nigeria.
A few weeks ago, precisely in August, the UK’s National Crime Agency had accused Alison-Madueke of accepting bribes in return for awarding multi-million-pound oil and gas contracts, leading to her being charged in court.
She was arraigned before the Westminster Magistrate’s Court in London early October over allegations of bribery to the tune of £100,000, and was admitted to bail in the sum of £70,000, by the District Judge Michael Snow.
As part of conditions attached to the bail, the former minister was ordered to observe an 11pm to 6am curfew, while wearing an electronic tag at all times.
She was arrested in London in 2015, shortly after stepping down as minister, and was charged in August with six bribery offences. She has spent the past eight years on police bail, living in St. John’s Wood, an expensive area of London.
The charges against her, read out in court, were all related to events alleged to have taken place in London.
Prosecutor Andy Young said she was alleged to have accepted a wide range of advantages in cash and in kind from people who wanted to receive or continue to receive the award of oil contracts which he said were worth billions of dollars in total.
The advantages included a delivery of £100,000 ($121,620) in cash, the payment of private school fees for her son, and the use and refurbishment of several luxurious properties in London and in the English countryside.
They also included the use of a Range Rover car, payment of bills for chauffeur-driven cars, furniture and purchases from the upmarket London department store, Harrods and from Vincenzo Caffarella, which sells Italian decorative arts and antiques.
District Judge Michael Snow granted Alison-Madueke bail but imposed terms including an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, an electronic tag to be worn at all times and a £70,000 surety to be paid before she could leave the court building.
