Not Mine!” – Diezani Alison-Madueke Denies Ownership Of Recovered $52.8 Million Loot

Nigeria’s former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has refuted any connection to the $52.5 million recently repatriated from the United States to Nigeria.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

The federal government had announced on Friday, January 10, the recovery of $52.88 million in assets allegedly linked to her. During a formal signing ceremony in Abuja, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, disclosed that $50 million of the funds would be utilized for rural electrification projects through the World Bank, while $2.88 million would support anti-corruption and justice reforms.

In a statement released on Sunday through her legal counsel, Mike Ozekhome SAN, Diezani clarified that the funds do not belong to her but to Nigerian oil entrepreneur Kola Aluko. She emphasized that the media’s reference to the money as “Diezani Loot” is baseless.

Diezani explained that the $52.5 million was derived from the sale of a vessel seized by U.S. authorities from Kola Aluko, with the proceeds subsequently returned to Nigeria.

The statement, titled “There is No Such Thing as Diezani Loot,” detailed her position:
“As Solicitors to Diezani Alison-Madueke (DAM), the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, we make this intervention to address the cocktail of lies and misinformation surrounding her cases in the last decade, both in Nigeria and abroad. The funds in question were never hers, and their forfeiture was unrelated to her.”

Diezani, who has been residing in the United Kingdom since leaving Nigeria, reiterated her innocence and called for an end to the false narratives implicating her in the matter.