The presidency speaks out
on the arrest of Nigeria’s former minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke
in London on October 2 2015.
The ally of former president Goodluck Jonathan was arrested by the UK National Crime Agency over allegations of corruption and money laundering, and has since been released on bail, but the presidency decided to keep silent about it until now.
Premium Times
The ally of former president Goodluck Jonathan was arrested by the UK National Crime Agency over allegations of corruption and money laundering, and has since been released on bail, but the presidency decided to keep silent about it until now.
The president’s senior
special assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, told Premium Times that
the government is not ignorant of the arrest as it had been duly informed.
However, they are still not
willing to say much about the arrest, but will keep Nigerians abreast of
happenings as the investigations continue.
Shehu said: “The government
is aware of the arrest and all the government investigative agencies are
working very closely with the British law enforcement.
“Nigerian authorities are
saying for the first time that matters are being handled with seriousness and
deep commitment. Nobody wants to give the impression that this government is
frivolous and unserious.
“For this reason,
government is only confirming active collaboration. Beyond this, we are not
saying more. In due course, Nigerians will be briefed on updates as
appropriate.”
Speaking also on the
identities of the other four people arrested alongside the former minister,
Shehu was quite evasive as he said: “As I said no one is willing to provide
further details at this point.”
Meanwhile, the UK
anti-crime agency has revealed that while the minister was only recently
arrested, she had been under serious investigation since 2013.
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