Alleged graft: Exile not on my mind -Diezani

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke has refuted reports that she is planning to relocate from the country by seeking asylum elsewhere, fearing that she may be prosecuted for corruption by the incoming administration of Muhammadu Buhari.

The minister was reacting to a report by an online news portal, Sahara reporters, that about six countries have turned down requests for asylum for her.

Group Public Affairs GM of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Mr. Ohi Alegbe who spoke on her behalf, said there was absolutely nothing of such happening, and that she has no intentions of either seeking asylum anywhere in the world or even relocating.

According to the earlier published report which claimed to have been sourced from the Business Council for Africa (BCA) “The report, dated March 2015, focused extensively on Nigeria’s general elections.  It said the notorious Minister, whose impunity is known to have been closely-protected by President Goodluck Jonathan, will be coming under the microscope for the first time in her ministerial career”.

The report also claimed, that about US$ 1 trillion is the latest estimated figure of the looting of the Nigerian treasury between 1960 and 2005 alone.

BCA recalled President-elect Muhammadu Buhari lamenting that the rest of the world looks at Nigeria as the home of corruption, one where stealing is not corruption but a way of life, and that his administration will pursue all public officers and individuals who are believed to be guilty of corruption.

Alison-Madueke’s departure from Nigeria is likely to be followed by several other PDP elders, party members and supporters as well as some former government officials, as Buhari’s anti-corruption drive will be far-reaching.

While BCA agreed that the March/April 2015 were “the most credible elections in Nigeria’s history”, it said they could not be called the most incorruptible. On the contrary, it referred to them as the worst because of the amount of money that the political parties so freely and openly spent.

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