Diezani - EFCC not responsible for extradition of former minister, says spokesperson

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said it does not have the authority to extradite former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueketo face trial for corruption allegations against her.

This disclosure was made by the anti-graft agency's spokesperson, Wilson Uwajaren, while he was speaking on Channels TV, on Thursday, August 24, 2017.

Uwajaren said that unlike what some people think, only the Ministry of Justice has any authority in matters of extradition.

This revelation is a response to a planned protest by organisers of the 'Resume or Resign' protests who, this week, announced a 2-day sit-out protest against the EFCC to demand for the extradition of the former minister.

When asked about his reaction to the development, Uwajaren said, "The proper agency to talk to is not the EFCC. The EFCC, contrary to the views of some people, is not the one in charge of extradition.

"That type of extradition is handled by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice who is the right person to talk about extradition of any Nigerian from any part of the world."

When asked if the agency had previously pushed for the Ministry of Justice to extradite the former minster, Uwajaren said, "What I can tell you is that we already have the charge in court in which Mrs Diezani was listed as one of the defendants, and in that charge we stated that she's stiill at large - which means that we were not able to bring her into the country to face trial.

"We are still waiting for her to respond because we have invited her for questioning but she has not responded. We are aware that she is living in the UK where she was taken to court sometime ago and was released on bail.

"Ours is to investigate and prosecute, but issues of extradition are handled by the Ministry of Justice."
Allison-Madueke has been linked to a slew of corruption cases, with courts seizing assets and funds that have been suspected to be proceeds of her loot.

In addition to the building, the court also ordered the permanent forfeiture of the sums of $2,740,197.96 and N84,537,840.70 realised as rents on the property.

On Tuesday, August 8, the EFCC revealed that its operatives discovered boxes of gold, silver and diamond jewellery from the Abuja residences of the former minister.

In a statement signed by the leader of the 'Our Mumu Don Do' group, Charles Oputa, aka Charly Boy, and the leader of the 'Concerned Nigerians' group, Deji Adeyanju, they said the protest is a challenge directed at the anti-graft agency to file for the extradition of the former minister, who is away in the United Kingdom, so that she can be prosecuted for her crimes.

The protests will take place on Monday, August 28, and Tuesday, August 29 at the EFCC's head office in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja.

This Post Appeared in Pulse.ng