The International magazine, The Economist, it its Expresso column highlights the narrowing legal space for former Petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke against mounting corruption investigations.
The magazine in its latest online edition writes in a piecepublished under its Expresso column,
Legal difficulties are increasing for Diezani Alison-Madueke, the minister of petroleum resources from 2010 to 2015. Last month a court in Lagos temporarily seized a luxury apartment block that she allegedly bought with $37.5m of ill-gotten cash; that case continues today. Also in July, America’s Justice Department filed a lawsuit to recover $144m of assets, including an $80m yacht, belonging to two Nigerian businessmen it alleges bribed her to gain lucrative oil contracts. The former OPEC chief is still in Britain, where she was arrested and bailed on charges of bribery and money laundering in 2015. While that case is yet to come to court, the net seems to be closing. A successful prosecution, whatever the jurisdiction, would be a victory for the ailing President Muhammadu Buhari, elected two years ago promising to clean up Nigeria. His government is yet to secure any notable convictions of corrupt officials.
