A senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Wahab Shittu, has revealed the challenge the federal government is faced with in the quest to extradite ex-minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, for trial.
Shittu spoke on Channels Televisionâs ‘Politics Today’ programme, monitored by TimesNow.com.ng on Friday, January 10, 2025.
He reacted to the American government’s return of $52.88 million in recovered assets to Nigeria.
The recoveries were linked to a former Nigerian minister of petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, and her associates.
According to Shittu, âlegal and extra-legal hurdlesâ remain a significant challenge in the extradition of the ex-minister for prosecution back home.
Explaining further, the senior lawyer added:
Meanwhile, Alison-Madueke, who was Nigeriaâs minister of petroleum resources between 2010 and 2015, is charged with receiving bribes in the form of cash, luxury goods, flights on private jets and the use of high-end properties in Britain in return for awarding oil contracts.
But she was granted a £70,000 bail in the United Kingdom (UK) court over a £100,000 bribery allegation.
The former minister appeared before Michael Snow of the Westminster Magistrates Court in the UK on Monday, October 2, 2023, where she was granted bail.
Read more about Diezani Alison-Madueke:
Meanwhile, the former minister of petroleum denied granting an interview in London recently where she begged President Bola Tinubu to allow her to return home.
Diezani, who served in Goodluck Jonathan’s government, fled Nigeria in 2015 and has been in the United Kingdom (UK).
The erstwhile minister said she did not grant any interview recently and described the report as âfakeâ and âconcocted.â
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
