Embattled
ex-Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, in a
statement released by her media aide has reacted to recent court rulings
secured by the EFCC for her to permanently forfeit some cash traced to her.
Diezani
who claimed EFCC has never notified her of any evidence or indictment
so that she would prepare to have legal representation in court, further
said she cannot forfeit properties or monies that she does not
rightfully own.
Here’s the statement;
“I am
deeply disturbed and bewildered by recent media reports 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). 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 has 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. As of the time of my writing this rebuttal, the EFCC has
still not furnished me or my lawyers with a copy of the order. I am also
informed by my lawyers that the legislation under which the EFCC
obtained this order is for situations where the funds are believed to be
the proceeds of crime and the owner is not known. I do not therefore;
understand how the EFCC can in the same breath say that the monies in
question are mine. If they had evidence that the monies were mine then
they would not/should not have used the procedure which applies only to
funds of unknown ownership. If indeed they used this particular legal
procedure because they did not know who owned the monies, then how can
they now be falsely attributing the ownership to me?”
Diezani also dismissed allegations that the anti-graft agency found $700 million in her 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.”
On claims that she was taking bribes whilst in office, Diezani said
“At
end December 2011, I directed PPPRA to move for complete deregulation,
to rid the oil and gas sector of the speculators, the bloated middlemen
and the parasitic influence of God-fatherism. This was in an attempt to
create a far less corruptible system as it was quite clear that the
intended benefits of the Subsidy system were not reaching the masses but
were being hijacked by unscrupulous middlemen cabals.”
On the
controversial $2obillion that was said to have gone missing from the
coffers of NNPC while she was in office, said the investigation carried
out by the PriceWaterCoopers (PWC) cleared her of any wrong doing.
“In
addition, the Makarfi-led committee in the senate of the federal
republic of Nigeria, in a series of publicly-held hearings, also
vindicated me on the matter of the purportedly missing funds. Yet, we
are all silent as if these events never occurred. The allegations that I
have addressed above are no different, the character assassination
continues, this time with a new set of hirelings. One of the basic
tenets of the human trait is that we all have shortcomings and we all
make our fair share of mistakes, whether we are in positions of
leadership, or not. It is therefore sad and distressing that in spite of
all that I tried to do in the best interest of our nation, I continue
to be faced with constant demonisation, unproven accusations, and deeply
personal insults. The fight against corruption in Nigeria will be far
better served if the EFCC focus on incontrovertible facts, as opposed to
media sensationalism and completely distorted stories, in their bid to
demonize and destroy a few specially chosen Nigerians. Documentary
evidence is available to support the facts.”