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Eiezani Alison-Madueke, has denied claims that $52.8 million recently returned to Nigeria from the United States belongs to her.
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She stated that the money belongs to Nigerian oil magnate Kola Aluko.
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She described allegations linking her to the funds as false and part of a smear campaign.
Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has denied claims that $52.8 million recently returned to Nigeria from the United States belongs to her.
In a statement issued through her lawyer, Prof. Mike Ozekhome, Alison-Madueke described reports connecting her to the funds as false.
“We note with concern the recent deliberate attempt to link her with what has been described as a civil forfeiture of a yacht Galactica, the sale of which was said to have yielded $52.8m to the US government; which sum has since been repatriated to Nigeria,” the statement reads in part.
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“This is a clear example of the mischievous and cruel sport of tarnishing the image of the lady through a bouquet of consistent, persistent and unrelenting cocktail of falsehoods and misinformation.
The purveyors of this line of misinformation term it ‘name-and-shame’. To sell the storyline, the architects ensured they attached Diezani’s name to a recovered yacht which is not in any way linked to her.”
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Alison-Madueke explained that the money belongs to Nigerian oil magnate Kola Aluko, and is part of the sale proceeds from the vessel, the Galactica, seized by the US government.
“The yacht Galactica, from information readily available in the public domain and in open sources, was purchased by Mr Kola Aluko who had used the vessel until he agreed to its forfeiture to the United States of America,” the statement added.
She urged those spreading misinformation to focus on more constructive activities, stating that the allegations against her are part of a smear campaign aimed at damaging her reputation.
UK Court Charges Diezani Alison-Madueke With Bribery
Former President of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been charged with bribery offences relating to her time as Nigeria’s oil minister, the United Kingdom National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Tuesday.
Alison-Madueke, 63, has been on bail since first being arrested in London in October 2015.
