Minister of Petroleum under former President Goodluck Jonathan, Mrs Deziani Alison-Madueke, has allegedly spoken out after a long silence concerning the accusations against her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Deziani Alison-Madueke allegedly denied all
the allegations against her by the EFCC SDK said it exclusively got the former
minister’s reaction in which she allegedly said
the EFCC lied by saying she had forfeited some
money she reportedly stole as a government
official. Her response has not been officially confirmed
by NAIJ.com. Here are the take-aways on the seven issues
she spoke about: 1. THE $153.3MILLION ALLEGATION I am deeply disturbed and bewildered by
recent media reports (Premium Times
Thursday 12 January, 2017 and other dailies
about the same time) claiming that by virtue
of an order of the Federal High Court, I have
forfeited to the Federal Government, the sum of $153.3m which I purportedly stole from the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. First and foremost, whilst the reasons for my
being out of the country are public knowledge,
the principle of fair hearing demands that I
should have been notified of formal charges if
truly there was a prima facie evidence or
indictment against my person linking me with the said issue, so as to ensure that I had
adequate legal representation. This was never
done. I wish to state that I cannot forfeit what was
never mine. I do not know the basis on which
the EFCC have chosen to say that I am the
owner of these funds as no evidence was
provided to me before the order was obtained
and they have not in fact served me with the order or, any evidence since they obtained it. READ ALSO: INEC probes 200 officials for allegedly receiving N23.29billion bribe In the face of the obvious falsification of facts
and misinformation, it is only right and proper
that the EFCC should publish the details of the
$153.3M lodgements, the bank account
numbers and the account beneficiaries,
showing proof of my link to them. Having also alleged that the said $153.3M was ‘wired’ from
NNPC, the EFCC should also publish details of
the NNPC accounts from where the said $153.3
million was taken from, with proof that I
authorized such a transaction/transactions
acting either in my private capacity or, as The Honourable Minister of Petroleum. Let me state for the record that as Minister of
Petroleum, the operation and management of
NNPC finances were outside my purview as
outlined in both the Petroleum Act and the
NNPC Act. 2. MALABU With regards to the various news reports
published in both the online and print media,
insidiously inferring that I was indicted by
Italian prosecutors for, as they put it, ‘ sharing
in the Loot’ of the $1.3bn OPL 245 oil block
deal that involved Malabu and the Joint Venture Multinational partners, ENI(AGIP) and
Royal Dutch Shell. Let me once again State for
the record, that this is another figment of the
author’s imagination, which given the
persistent bid to ensure my destruction and
stick all of the Sins of the Corruption plagued Oil and Gas Sector of over the last 30years
upon my head, probably emanated from the
EFCC itself! In 2010, shortly after I was appointed as
Minister of Petroleum Resources, the issue of
OPL 245 was brought to my attention. I looked
into the case and immediately became aware
of the inherent and long standing sensitivities
around this issue. It became clear from the onset that this case was not within the direct
purview of the Minister of Petroleum
Resources but in the main was centered
around issues of Law. By this time there was
already an ICSID(International Centre for
Settlement of Investment Disputes) investigation and claims against the FGN
running into billions of dollars. Therefore, we
took directives from the Chief Legal Officer of
the Nation; the Attorney General and Minister
of Justice. In all of these matters due process
was followed to the letter at all times. 3. THE ALJAZEERA REPORT - $18MILLION
MANSION On the 13th of June 2016, the EFCC once again
took their well-trodden path to the media, this
time claiming that they had ‘discovered’ a
mansion in Asokoro, Abuja, worth $18million
(approx. N9billion) which they purported to
belong to me. The EFCC went to the extent of bringing in Aljazeera, an International TV
Station, to air a damaging documentary
against me in this regard, showing a particular
residential building in Asokoro, Abuja, which
they told Aljazeera belonged to me. The EFCC Chairman Ibrahim Magu, personally
took the Aljazeera reporter to the building,
alleging that it belonged to me. It has since
become apparent that the house belongs to a
company owned by Mr Kola Aluko. Since the EFCC claims that the alleged
$18million Asokoro property belongs to me,
then they should kindly produce the
‘Authentic’ Certificate of Occupancy and Land
Registry information and any other relevant
information, as proof of my ownership of the property. 4. FAMILY HOME - YENEGOA, BAYELSA STATE On the 9th November 2016, the EFCC visited
our Family home in Yenegoa (Bayelsa State)
as pre-agreed and they were escorted around
the premises. I was therefore completely
shocked to once again see my name
sensationally splashed across the Front Pages of Newspapers and widely circulated on the
internet, with blaring Headlines such as “EFCC
UNCOVERS DIEZANI’S MULTI-BILLION NAIRA
ESTATE” - Nation Newspaper, January 8, 2017
(Annex- 4A). There was absolutely nothing
‘Hidden’ or ‘Concealed’ about the home. I HAD DECLARED IT OPENLY as required by Law, in
my Asset declaration forms (Annex-4B). Yet
the EFCC have announced that they ‘Just
Discovered’ my ‘Hidden Estate’! And labelled it
a ‘Multi-Billion Naira Estate’! Even though they
had been given the Bill of Quantities, showing actual amount spent. It is accepted tradition across the length and
breadth of Nigeria, for people to own country/
hillage homes. Given the size of the land and
the location of the compound, the buildings
thereon cannot by any stretch of the
imagination be a “Multi-Billion Naira” palatial estate, as the news mongers would want to
portray. READ ALSO: INEC panel probes 200 officials over N23billion bribe The EFCC were taken on a tour of the
compound which consisted of a main house
and two outhouses - An Obi (meeting
bungalow) and a staff quarters(BQ) building -
above which we built 3 guest rooms and a
parlour. The only other 2 structures are the gate and generator houses. Construction began
in late 2011 and was handled in phases. During
the visit the EFCC was given the bill of
quantities, which up until the time construction
stopped in early 2015, due to my illness, was
at approximately N394 million which was declared in the code of conduct
documentation. 5. $700 Million Cash Found In My House Stories were circulated by unscrupulous agents
of calumny that the EFCC found a mind
boggling $700million in cash in my home in
Abuja. Would the videos of this $700 million
cash discovery not have made good viewing?
Or should those who recovered this money not tell the public where exactly the money has
been kept? Perhaps the Central bank should
corroborate that it is in custody of these
monies allegedly found in my house? But then,
it is now patently apparent that Nigerians are
no longer easily led to believe fables and sensational untruths. 6. REALITY VERSUS FICTION I would like to state for the record that I
performed my duty as Minister of Petroleum
Resources with the utmost sincerity and sense
of responsibility, ensuring that all Nigerians
irrespective of creed, gender or tribe enjoyed
their rightful benefits from the Oil and Gas Sector.
Source:https://www.naij.com/1083884-deziani-alison-madueke-allegedly-breaks-efccs-lies-concerning-her.html

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