Diezani denies ownership of $52.8m loot, alleges deliberate falsehood to tarnish her
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Diezani Alison-Madueke, the Petroleum Minister and most powerful cabinet member of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, has denied ownership of the $52.88 million loot the United States recently repatriated to Nigeria in an Asset Return Agreement (ARA).
Both Nigeria and the US claim the ARA signed in Abuja on January 10 by federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Lateef Fagbemi and US Ambassador to Nigeria Richard Mills Jr. was for the repatriation of the approximately $52.88 million from the forfeiture of Galactica assets linked to Diezani and her associates.
But a statement issued on Sunday on her behalf by her lawyer Mike Ozekhome SAN, insisted she diligently served Nigeria without involvement in inappropriate conduct while in office and has no relationship with Galactica assets.
“We note with concern the recent deliberate attempt to link her (Diezani) with what has been described as a civil forfeiture of a yacht Galactica, the sale of which was said to have yielded $52.8m to the US government; which sum has since been repatriated to Nigeria,” the statement said.
“This is a clear example of the mischievous and cruel sport of tarnishing the image of the lady through a bouquet of consistent, persistent and unrelenting cocktail of falsehoods and misinformation.
“To sell the storyline, the architects ensured they attached Diezani’s name to a recovered yacht which is not in any way linked to her. They now falsely termed it ‘Diezani loot.’ Nothing of the sort ever happened.
“She was never involved in the purchase, use and sale of the said yacht. The yacht Galactica, from information readily available in the public domain and in open sources, was purchased by Mr. Kola Aluko who had used the vessel until he agreed to its forfeiture to the United States of America.
“The only tenuous basis for deliberately linking DAM (Diezani Alison-Madueke) to the said yacht is the false narrative that the Strategic Alliance Agreements (SAAs) which were entered into between Kola Aluko and Jide Omokore’s Atlantic Energy companies and NNPC, were allegedly corruptly awarded to the said companies by DAM.
“DAM was not the GMD of the NNPC as so did not and could not have awarded the said contracts.
“The fallacy of DAM’s involvement in an alleged corrupt contract which gave birth to proceeds with which the Galactica was supposedly purchased has long been debunked and laid to rest by a Nigerian competent court of law in charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/121/2016 – Federal Republic of Nigeria vs Olajide Omokore & others.
“In that case, the Federal High Court, coram Hon. Justice Nnamdi Dimgba (now of the Court of Appeal), held that the Strategic Alliance Agreements (SAAs) between NNPC and the Atlantic Companies were validly entered into between the said companies and the NNPC.
“Furthermore, the said companies and their chairman were discharged and acquitted of any offence howsoever in relation to allegedly obtaining the contract or monies realized from it through false representations.
“They were also exonerated and freed of the offence of money laundering in relation to the said contracts with which they were also charged.
“The judgement in the case established that the said contracts were properly awarded by NNPC and that the said award followed due process.”
Ozekhome reiterated Diezani has been subject to other false allegations, citing that “some time ago, she was widely, but falsely accused of owning a diamond-studded bikini underwear allegedly valued at $12,000,000!
“The allegation was so unnatural, wild, and baseless that the then Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, was compelled to publicly deny and denounce the vile allegation as being not only false but preposterous.”
Ozekhome claimed his client served the nation diligently as Minister of Petroleum, and argued that “she remains the only Petroleum Minister to have left behind a staggering sum of over $4 billion in the NLNG account representing gas sector investment funds.
“She did this to steady the incoming administration of former president Muhammadu Buhari at the end of her tenure in May 2015.”
Ozekhome also claimed that Diezani’s travails over the past 10 years “have been founded solely on baseless speculations and allegations which wrongly alleged that she obtained unlawful gifts and favours from operators within the petroleum industry.
“She had never been accosted or charged with stealing or pilfering government money. These matters of obtaining unlawful gifts and favours are now the subject of proceedings against DAM in the United Kingdom.
“We plead, as her lawyers, with all and sundry, that she be accorded fair hearing and that the process of these UK court proceedings be allowed to take their natural course to avoid prejudice to her in the ongoing subjudice UK proceedings against her.
“Those purveyors and peddlers who habitually spin these outrightly false, unfounded, defamatory, unintelligent, and indefensible narratives to denigrate and humiliate her should please find better use of their time and leave DAM alone.
“Let the law take its natural course without interference. We humbly pray.”
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