The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, on Wednesday disclosed that the anti-graft agency recovered $153 million from a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Bawa added that 80 houses valued at $80 million were also recovered from the former minister.
“There are several cases surrounding Diezani’s case. I was part of that investigation, and we have done quite a lot.
”In one of the cases we recovered $153 million; we have secured the final forfeiture of over 80 properties in Nigeria valued at about $80 million. We have done quite a bit on that,” said the agency’s boss in the April edition of the commission’s magazine, EFCC Alert.
He added, “The other cases as it relates to the $115 million INEC bribery are also ongoing across the federation.
“We are looking forward to the time we will, maybe, have her in the country, and, of course, review things and see what will happen going forward. The case has certainly not been abandoned.”
Diezani is facing charges bordering on bribery and money laundering in Nigeria and in London.
The commission had accused Diezani of fleeing the country to the UK in order to escape justice.
In February 2020, the EFCC under the leadership of its former boss, Ibrahim Magu, asked UK authorities to extradite the former minister on the ground that she allegedly stole a sum of $2.5 billion belonging to the Nigerian government.
Stressing that the fund must be accounted for, Magu also claimed that Diezani had a generation of looters supporting her actions which he said was not good for the image and development of the country.
He stated that the EFCC was in touch (at the time) with the international community to facilitate the extradition of the former minister.
