INTERPOL: Diezani’s Extradition Request From UK Rejected

An extradition request for Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former minister of petroleum resources, to face corruption charges and a trial was turned down by the British government, according to the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government.

Garba Baba Umar, an assistant inspector general of police and the head of INTERPOL Nigeria’s national central bureau, announced this on Thursday.

When testifying before the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate Alleged Loss of Over $2.4 Billion in Revenue from Illegal Sale of 48 Million Barrels of Crude in 2015 Including Crude Oil Exports from 2014 to Present, he made this statement.

The government requested mutual legal help from the United Kingdom in accordance with the law, but the demand was denied because the former minister also filed a lawsuit in the UK to prevent her extradition, according to the AIG, who was being questioned by members of the committee.

The country’s Interpol chief explained how the federal government was successful in extraditing former Attorney-General Bello Adoke and Chairman Abdulrasheed Maina of the disbanded Pension Reform Task Team (SAN).

He said: “In respect of assistance – seeking for assistance, if you remember, we repatriated many Nigerians who were alleged to have swindled the Nigerian Government. I went personally and brought Maina from (Republic of) Niger.

“I brought the former Attorney-General of the Federation from Dubai and many other Nigerians who absconded. We brought them back to face justice and those who are in Nigeria, hiding, we took them back to their various countries to face justice.”

On why the Nigerian authorities had been unable to bring Alison-Madueke back to the country to face trial, Umar said, “The issue of Diezani, a warrant of arrest was issued. I am sorry to say the government of the UK turned down our request. We followed the MLA – you can check, that is Mutual Legal Assistance – to bring her back home. She went to court because, according to them, they have a system where they check our…let me not go there.”