Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, has distanced herself from the $52.8m recently repatriated to Nigeria from the US.
Contrary to reports, the ex-minister, who has been in the United Kingdom (UK) since she left Nigeria, said the money did not belong to her.
In a statement titled “There is no such thing as Diezani Loot”, Alison-Madueke claimed the money that was reportedly linked to her belongs to a Nigeria’s oil magnate, Kola Aluko.
In the statement published online by Vanguard and released through her counsel, Prof. Mike Ozekhome (SAN), the ex-minister insisted there was nothing like “Diezani Loot.”
Explaining how the looted money came by, Alison-Madueke said the $52. 8m dollars came from a vessel seized by the American government from Aluko.
According to her, the vessel was later sold and its proceeds returned to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Describing reports that linked her to the repatriated money as false, the ex-minister said the purveyors of the information were hell-bent on tarnishing her image, adding that she has nothing to do with the purchase, use and sale of the seize vessel.
The statement read in part: “We note with concern the recent deliberate attempt to link her with what has been described as a civil forfeiture of a yacht Galactica, the sale of which was said to have yielded $52.8m to the US government; which sum has since been repatriated to Nigeria.
“This is a clear example of the mischievous and cruel sport of tarnishing the image of the lady through a bouquet of consistent, persistent and unrelenting cocktail of falsehoods and misinformation.
“The purveyors of this line of misinformation term it “name-and-shame”. To sell the storyline, the architects ensured they attached Diezani’s name to a recovered yacht which is not in any way linked to her.
“They now falsely termed it “Diezani loot”. Nothing of the sort ever happened. She was never involved in the purchase, use and sale of the said yacht.
“The yacht Galactica, from information readily available in the public domain and in open sources, was purchased by Mr Kola Aluko who had used the vessel until he agreed to its forfeiture to the United States of America.”
She, therefore, advised those peddling unfounded, defamatory information and indefensible narratives about her to find better use of their time and leave her alone.
