The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has said that it does not have the authority to extradite the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to face trial for corruption allegations against her.
This disclosure was made by the anti-graft agency’s Spokesperson, Wilson Uwajaren, while he was speaking on Channels TV.
Uwajaren said that unlike what some people think, it is only the Ministry of Justice that has any authority in matters of extradition.
This revelation is a response to a planned protest by organisers of the ‘Resume or Resign’ protests who this week, announced a 2-days sit-out protest against the EFCC, to demand for the extradition of the former Minister.
When asked about his reaction to the development, Uwajaren said: “The proper agency to talk to is not the EFCC. The EFCC, contrary to the views of some people, is not the one in charge of extradition.
“That type of extradition is handled by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, who is the right person to talk about extradition of any Nigerian from any part of the world.”
When asked if the agency had previously pushed for the Ministry of Justice to extradite the former Minster, Uwajaren said: “What I can tell you is that we already have the charge in court, in which Mrs Diezani was listed as one of the defendants, and in that charge we stated that she is still at large, which means that we were not able to bring her into the country to face trial.
“We are still waiting for her to respond, because we have invited her for questioning, but she has not responded. We are aware that she is living in the UK where she was taken to court some time ago, and was released on bail.
“Ours is to investigate and prosecute, but issues of extradition are handled by the Ministry of Justice.”
Recall, that Alison-Madueke has been linked to a slew of corruption cases, with courts seizing assets and funds that have been suspected to be proceeds of her loot.
On Tuesday, August 22, a Federal High Court in Lagos, ordered the interim forfeiture of assets valued at $16,441,906, linked to her.
On Wednesday, August 9, 2017, Justice Chuka Obiozor of a Lagos Federal High Court, also ordered the interim forfeiture of the sum of N7,646,700,000 linked to the former Minister, after the EFCC filed an ex parte application.
This ruling came only days after a Federal High Court, also in Lagos, ordered the permanent forfeiture of a $37.5m Banana Island mansion, allegedly owned by the former Minister, on Monday, August 7.
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