The Immediate minister of petroleum in Nigeria, Deizani Alison-Madueke, was on Friday arrested in London by the United Kingdom National Crime Agency along with four others for alleged money laundering.
When contacted, the British High Commission in Nigeria confirmed that some arrests were made Friday but declined to disclose the identities of those involved.
Joseph Abuku, Press and Public Affairs Officer, said, “This morning, five people between the ages of 21 and 60 were arrested on suspicion of bribery and corruption offences. The crimes are being investigated by the National Crimes Agency.
“The National Crime Agency does not confirm identity at arrest nor provide information that could be used to corroborate the identity of an arrested individual.”
It is not clear whether the former minister was arrested based on request from the Nigerian government.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on September 27 hinted that those who misappropriated billions of naira belonging to Nigeria’s state oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation would soon be prosecuted.
The NNPC under the immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was involved in several questionable deals, many of which have been cancelled by the present government.
However, Mrs. Alison-Madueke, accused of several corrupt dealings, has stayed away from Nigeria since Mr. Buhari was sworn-in as president.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke was appointed Nigeria’s first female petroleum minister in February 2010, after former Vice President Goodluck Jonathan became acting president, a position she held till May 29, 2015 when Mr. Jonathan left office.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s tenure as petroleum minister turned out one of Nigeria’s most controversial, amid unending allegations of corruption.
Under her watch, dubious oil marketers stole trillions of naira of oil subsidy money. She retained her position after the House of Representative investigated the scandal and indicted the minister.
Probes by independent audit firms, including the KPMG and Pricewaterhousecoopers, confirmed billions of dollars of oil money were missing, the most notable being $20 billion in 2014.
Long before her stint in the oil and gas sector, Mrs. Alison-Madueke was investigated by the Nigerian Senate on allegation she paid N30.9 billion to contractors while she held office as transportation minister.
In 2009, the Senate also indicted Mrs. Alison-Madueke and recommended her for prosecution for allegedly transferring N1.2 billion into a private account of a toll company without due process.
Regardless of the mounting criticisms against her stewardship, Mrs. Alison-Maduke got elected in November 2014 as the first female president of oil cartel the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
The former minister consistently denied any wrongdoing.
In June, after leaving office, she rejected all allegations of embezzlement, saying she never stole from Nigeria.
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