Diezani also refuted she left Nigeria because she was corrupt, insisting she left to undertake critical treatment for breast cancer
By Kehinde Okeowo
Nigeria’s former minister of petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has told an Abuja High Court that contrary to the impression being given, she did not abscond from the country but travelled to the United Kingdom since May 2015 for cancer treatment.
She made the revelation in a writ of summons against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the attorney-general of the federation (AGF).
TheNiche had reported that Alison-Madueke asked for damages of N100 billion “for the false, injurious, malicious and libelous publications.” in a lawsuit she filed before the Abuja court.
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In the suit, the first female President of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said the EFCC and AGF defamed her by claiming she is corrupt.
She went on to refute claims that she left the country because she was corrupt, insisting she left to undertake a critical treatment for breast cancer.
According to Deziani, toward the end of the tenure of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, she was diagnosed with “the most aggressive form of breast cancer” which she identified as “Triple Negative Cancer.”
She left for England on May 22, 2015 “in order to undertake a critical course of treatment, which consisted of two operations, eight months of intensive chemotherapy and five weeks of radiotherapy”.
Since then, she said in the court papers, that she has remained in England “undergoing medical care and treatment.”.