Mrs. Allison-Madueke had left Nigeria shortly before President Mohammadu Buhari
was sworn-in under the guise of seeking medical attention. Sources said her medical
situation has been exaggerated as she is merely looking for an escape route.
Sources close to the former Minister said that Mrs. Allison-Madueke who now wears
a low cut hair style to disguise her person, spends her time at the Presidential suit
from where she sends emissaries to President Mohammadu Buhari to grant her
some soft landing in the current probe of her activities as Petroleum Minister under
the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
The source who does not want to be named confirmed that the once very Powerful
Minister checked into the Hotel in May using the name of one of her close aides for
fear of being identified and monitored.
Pointblanknews.com could not ascertain the name of the aide used to check into the
Landmark Hotel because the source fears it could expose the exact room the former
Minister has been staying since June.
“I cannot give you the exact name she used or the room number but believe me, she
has been at the Presidential Suit of Landmark Hotel since June. I have been there
severally and I have seen her there too,” the source said.
According to the source, “if you don’t know Diezani before, you will never recognize
her. She has changed her looks, she now wears low cut hair and not very down to
earth. She would see anyone who can help her reach Buhari because she is so
worried and depressed about the probe of her stewardship as Minister.”
Pointblanknews.com gathered that most of her cronies and those who benefitted
from the oil swap deals which is a subject of investigation have had series of
meetings with her at the hotel, building up possible defenses ahead of the
investigation.
As minister of Petroleum Resources under President Jonathan, Mrs. Alison-Madueke
became one of the most powerful Nigerian government officials. Several reports have
linked her to sleazy oil deals and a penchant for wastage of public funds.
She allegedly spent some N2 billion on private jet rentals, according to the petition
submitted to the EFCC by Enugu-based “Crusader For Good Governance.” The
petition was signed by Okechukwu Obiora Nnamdi, the group’s leader.
The group accused Mrs. Alison-Maduekwe of spending $300,000 on an
average international trip outside of Nigeria. She reportedly spends as much
as $500,000 on trips to such destinations as China, Malaysia and several
North American countries, according to the petition. The petitioners listed some of
the minister’s most lavish trips.
• During Easter break, she flew a private jet to Dubai with members of her family at
the cost of $300,000.
• During President Jonathan’s visit to South Africa, she flew in a private jet that
cost Nigeria $300,000.
• The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), a government agency she
oversees, maintains a Challenger 850 Visa jet which serves the minister’s
needs as well as those of her family. The cost of running the
jet is $500,000 per month.
• Ms. Allison-Madueke went to a meeting of the Oil Producing and
Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Austria in a private jet.
In addition, the petitioners alleged that, for two years, the Petroleum minister never
attended any meeting outside Nigeria in a commercial jet or in any of the jets
maintained by the Nigerian Presidency. They stated that she had wasted more than
N2 billion on the maintenance of aircraft in the last two years.
They accused her of being the only minister who consistently uses private jets to
arrive at destinations when the Nigerian president travels abroad.
The petition also carpets Mrs. Allison-Madueke for often doing official jobs out of her
house, which means that she is frequently absent from her official desk at the
ministry.
As alleged in the petition to the EFCC, Mrs. Alison-Madueke also frequently uses the
services of Vista Jet, a Swiss luxury aviation company that provides jets to wealthy
businessmen around the world. Vista Jet has done deals with such Nigerians as
Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State and Nduka Obaigbena, the
flamboyant publisher of Thisday newspaper.
Curiously, Vista Jet has a Nigerian businessman, Kola Aluko, on its board.Mr. Aluko,
who once acted as Vista Jet’s West African representative, is known to be close to
Ms. Alison-Madueke.
“[Kola] Aluko and Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke are neck deep in the oil business,”
said a source at the NNPC. “She helped him [Mr. Aluko] to land a choice allocation
of pricey oil blocks through a company called Seven Energy,” added the source.
In a petition sent to the Nigerian Senate by the Delta Producing Communities, Ms.
Alison-Madueke is accused of transferring the ownership of four oil mining licenses
(OML), 30, 34, 26 and 42, to Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept which belongs to Mr.
Omokore.
Source : The Cable Times
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