Now I’m free to find out what happened to seized assets linked to me – Diezani 

By Tolulope Oke

Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has said she is now free to find out what happened to assets and properties previously linked to her after she was cleared in a corruption trial in the United Kingdom.

Alison-Madueke, who was acquitted on Wednesday by a jury at Southwark Crown Court in London, questioned previous asset recovery claims made by Nigerian and foreign authorities.

Speaking in an interview with the BBC on Friday, the former minister said some of the assets said to have been forfeited were not traced directly to her.

“The assets that have been forfeited were not actually traced directly to me,” she said.

“I don’t know what has happened to these matters at all. It’s now that I’ll have the freedom to find out what exactly has gone on there.”

Alison-Madueke also addressed a 2023 asset recovery action by the United States Department of Justice, which announced the recovery of about $53 million in assets connected to two oil businessmen named during the UK trial.

She said she was never given the opportunity to challenge the allegations because she was not charged in relation to them.

“I was never given the opportunity to fight that because I wasn’t even charged,” she said.

The former minister had faced five counts of accepting bribes and conspiracy to commit bribery after a 13-year investigation by the UK’s National Crime Agency.

Prosecutors alleged that she received benefits from oil businessmen who held government contracts, including luxury goods, chauffeur-driven vehicles and access to high-value properties in the United Kingdom.

But Alison-Madueke, her brother, Doye Agama, and oil industry executive Olatimbo Ayinde were acquitted in the trial.

Reacting to the verdict, Alison-Madueke said the long-running case damaged her reputation, restricted her movement and prevented her from working.

“I’ve not been allowed to travel. I’ve not been allowed to work. They destroyed my reputation and my integrity,” she said.

She described the investigation and prosecution as painful and traumatic.

“When your freedom is taken away from you, it has a very deep impact upon you psychologically,” she said.

“I knew that I had never done anything nefarious and I had never done any of the heinous things I was being accused of doing.”

Alison-Madueke was first arrested in 2015 but was not charged until 2023.

She also claimed that documents that could have helped her defence went missing in Nigeria.

According to her, the documents included receipts showing that some payments allegedly made on her behalf had been reimbursed.

“Those items were taken away by our intelligence forces” from her Abuja residence in 2015, she said.

The former minister criticised both Nigerian and British authorities over the handling of the case.

“There’s a bit of blame everywhere,” Alison-Madueke said.

“The Nigerian authorities need to look into the processes and practices that they deploy in these cases.”

She also said international law enforcement agencies should exercise greater caution when handling politically sensitive matters across borders.

“The long arm of the law when you go into other countries, particularly in politically motivated cases, needs to have a lot more sensitivity,” she said.

Alison-Madueke suggested that she may have been targeted because of her position and influence in Nigeria’s oil industry.

“I was the first female to enter this sort of position as petroleum minister and as head of OPEC in a very misogynistic society,” she said.

Responding to her comments, an NCA spokesperson told the BBC that the agency conducted a “long-running, in-depth and complex investigation” that was regularly reviewed by prosecutors and investigators.

The spokesperson said the agency worked closely with international partners and carried out the investigation impartially.

“A comprehensive file of evidence was presented to the CPS who authorised charges and we respect the decision of the jury in court,” the spokesperson said.