Towards the end of former President
Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, former Minister of Petroleum
Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, was appointed Commissioner for
Trade and Investment by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit of the
Commonwealth of Dominica and was handed a diplomatic passport.
This, perhaps, is why Diezani has been able to evade prosecution despite being in London for over four years.
According to Qatar-based network, Al
Jazeera, the former minister may have purchased a $2.2m choice property
near the United Nations in upscale Manhattan, New York, for the
Dominican Prime Minister in order to obtain the passport.
In a documentary titled, ‘Diplomats for
sale’, Al Jazeera reveals how politically exposed persons, including
leaders of international drug cartels, purchase diplomatic passports
from Caribbean countries for a fee which ranges between $250,000 and $2m
depending on the personality involved.
The bribe is usually paid to the leader
of that country who then appoints the buyer as an ambassador or a
diplomat. The buyer is subsequently issued with a diplomatic passport
which gives him or her immunity from prosecution based on the Vienna
Convention of 1961.
According to the news agency, shortly
before Diezani left office, there were already reports that she had
allegedly stolen billions of dollars.
Worried that the incoming President
Muhammadu Buhari’s administration might probe her, the former minister
allegedly fled to London and obtained a diplomatic passport from the
Prime Minister of Dominican Republic himself.
The report stated, “In London, she
(Diezani) is personally handed a Dominican diplomatic passport by Prime
Minister Skerrit; a passport which could shield her from criminal
charges. We found documents showing a few days later that a shell
company is formed in Delaware, an American state where laws mean the
true owners of a company are kept secret.
“Four months later, that shell company
buys a New York apartment for $2.2m with no mortgage. Property records
confirm that the prime minister’s wife, Melissa, was a resident. Photos
placed the Skerrit family there. Both Diezani and Skerrit deny any links
to the company that bought the apartment.
“Skerrit said the family resided there
due to a kind gesture by an unnamed friend of his wife. He strongly
denies any wrongdoing and says he didn’t demand or receive any money
from Madueke.”
The 53-minute documentary also shows how
countries like St. Lucia, Antigua and Grenada all in the Caribbean
carry out such “diplomatic passport for cash” scam.
The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission had in March lamented the slow pace at which the United
Kingdom was handling Diezani’s case.
The EFCC in a statement said it was baffling that after four years, Diezani had still not had her day in court.
The statement read in part, “We are
intent on bringing Diezani to justice and despite the spirited efforts
of the commission in ensuring that she returns to Nigeria and face
trial, she has been held back in the UK by an investigation that has
spanned almost four years without any signal about when she will be
available in Nigeria for prosecution.
“The EFCC has been frustrated over
Diezani, a development that prompted it to seek her extradition to
Nigeria, so that she can have her day in court.”
The former minister is alleged to have
diverted billions of dollars and purchased choice properties in several
parts of the world.
Diezani’s cash and properties as well as
those linked to her, worth over $250m, including jewellery, have been
forfeited permanently to the Federal Government by an order of court.
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