Former minister accused of stealing billions holds Dominica Citizenship
header

Former minister accused of stealing billions holds Dominica Citizenship

By TDN Wire Staff
December 20 2015 5:16 P.M

Former Nigeria oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke.

London, England (TDN) Concern is being raised in the capitals of London and Abuja following revelations that the former Nigerian oil minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who was recently arrested on corruption charges have been issued with a diplomatic passport by Dominica’s prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit.

In May 2015 Alison-Madueke was issued the passport and Dominican citizenship after Skerrit named her as the country’s trade and investment commissioner.

She received the passport the same month that she arrived in London for cancer treatment and just a few months before a new administration were scheduled to take office in Nigeria.

Investigators in London digging into the minister’s past now believe that she may have been given the citizenship to allow her to escape to Dominica and avoid possible prosecution.

They point to the fact that she was not paid a salary or compensated for her work.

In October 2015 Alison-Madueke was arrested by agents of the National Crime Agency in the UK over an investigation for money laundering, and investigations are continuing. The former oil minister who was arguably the most powerful minister in the former Goodluck Jonathan administration is reported to have hidden billions of dollars in oil proceeds, a charge she has denied.

Meanwhile in Dominica Skerrit is under intense pressure to explain how and why the minister was granted this special privilege.

Click here for standalone player