EFCC obtains arrest warrant, begins extradition plan on Diezani after UK court grant her £70,000 bail

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC has obtained an arrest warrant as it begins extradition process of Diezani Alison-Madueke, the former Minister of Petroleum Resources from the United Kingdom back to Nigeria to face the 13-count charges bordering on money laundering levelled against her by the anti-graft agency.

The commission further revealed that the money laundering charges for which Alison-Madueke is answerable to the EFCC cover jurisdictions in Dubai – the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Nigeria.

The commission, however, did not give details of the court from which it got the warrant.

Acting spokesman, Dele Oyewale, in a statement in Abuja Monday, said the anti-graft agency had initiated extradition proceedings, adding that Diezani would soon have her day in Nigerian courts.

This came as a court in the United Kingdom presided over by District Judge, Michael Snow granted Diezani bail in the sum of £70,000 but imposed other conditions on her after considering her ‘a flight risk’.

Diezani, who currently lives in St John’s Wood, London, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday after being charged with bribery offences amounting to £100,000, following a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation.

The NCA suspects Alison-Madueke, 63, accepted bribes during her time as minister for petroleum resources in exchange for awarding multimillion-pound oil and gas contracts.

Assets worth millions of pounds relating to the alleged offences have already been frozen as part of the ongoing investigation.

In March of this year, the NCA also provided evidence to the U.S. Department of Justice that enabled them to recover assets totaling $53.1 million linked to Alison-Madueke’s alleged corruption.

Head of the NCA’s international corruption unit, Andy Kelly, said the “charges are a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex international investigation. Bribery is a pervasive form of corruption, which enables serious criminality and can have devastating consequences for developing countries. We will continue to work with partners here and overseas to tackle the threat.”

She is alleged to have benefited from, at least, £100,000 in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, flights on private jets, luxury holidays for her family, and the use of multiple London properties.

Alison-Madueke was arrested in London in 2015, shortly after stepping down as minister, and was charged in August with six bribery offences.

She has spent the past eight years on police bail, living in St John’s Wood, an expensive area of London.