There where indications at the weekend that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will apply to a United Kingdom court as an interested party in the trial of a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.
A team of the anti-graft commission is billed for London to begin the process of filing papers as a party to the case.
The EFCC may also avail the UK court of its findings and the forfeiture order of a high court in Abuja on the former minister’s $2.5 million homes and cars.
Diezani has been on trial in the Southwark Crown Court in the UK for an alleged £100,000 bribe.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) alleged that Diezani might have “benefitted 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”.
On October 2, 2023, a Magistrate Court granted bail to the ex-Minister for £70,000 after deeming her “a flight risk.”
Last year, the Head of the NCA’s international corruption unit (ICU), 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.”
Diezani was arrested in London in 2015 shortly after stepping down as minister, and was charged in August with six bribery offences.
She has spent more than eight years on police bail, living in St John’s Wood, an expensive area of London.
