The Nigerian anti-graft agency has recovered $153 million from former Petroleum Minister Diezani Allison-Madueke. According to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa, an additional 80 homes valued at $80 million have been recovered from the ex-minister, who served under former President Goodluck Jonathan, Channels TV reported.
Bawa, who gave details surrounding the recovery of the assets, said Allison-Madueke is the subject of several criminal cases. One includes a $115-million INEC bribery case that is still under investigation. He added that the EFCC hopes to bring Allison-Madueke from the United Kingdom to Nigeria to review the matters on the ground.
Earlier, the EFCC accused the former minister of fleeing the country to evade allegations of bribery and money laundering. Allison-Madueke has been in the United Kingdom since her exit from public office, where she is allegedly undergoing medical treatment. Allison-Madueke ran the Petroleum Ministry, which coordinates the activities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, from 2010 to 2015.
Since her exit from office in 2015, luxurious properties and assets said to have been purchased and acquired by her have been forfeited on grounds that they were accrued illegally with public funds.
An EFCC investigation in 2017 revealed that $487.5 million had been traced to the former minister. The commission reported that less than 6 percent of the illegal funds have been forfeited.
In 2019, the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, ordered the permanent forfeiture of $40 million worth of jewelry and customized gold iPhones belonging to Allison-Madueke, as they were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with looted funds.
