Diezani Alison-Madueke Responds to $18m house Siezed by EFCC

Nigeria’s former minister of petroleum, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke has described as ridiculous and despicable a documentary film circulated by global news agency, AlJazeera earlier on Monday.

In a  video tagged ‘Nigeria reveals embezzlement by past government’ published on AlJazeera’s YouTube channel, it shows expensive jewellery worth about $2m and a house worth $18m said to have been seized from the former minister by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu also makes an appearance in the video which can be watched Here, and denies partisanship in the agency’s activities.

Mrs Alison-Madueke in a statement Monday evening, obtained by online newspaper,Signalng, she said:

“In the video report, which has been widely circulated in the social media, there are claims about me owning a property in Abuja allegedly worth $18 million. The report, which represents everything ridiculous and despicable about professional media practice and global best practices in the war against corruption, is the latest attempt to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. Clips of jewelry allegedly worth over $2 million were also copiously displayed as if to feed the cravings of an audience gratified with the notion that every wealthy Nigerian is corrupt.“

The former oil minister further asks:

“When did it become a crime to own a property in Nigeria? When did it become a crime for a woman of my status to have in her possession, jewelry? Jewelry, which women all across the world, including the woman selling tomatoes in Bodija market have in abundance in their closets? In which court of law, anywhere in the world was I prosecuted by the EFCC and found guilty of corruption?“