Kester E.
Diezani Allison-Madueke, the former minister of petroleum, is the subject of an arrest order and a request for her immediate extradition from the Bola Tinubu government.
According to information obtained by Aso Naija, the request was made to the Crown Prosecution Services of the United Kingdom by Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
After learning that the request had been made in writing to the AGF’s office by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) earlier in October, President Bola Tinubu reportedly ordered its submission.
“The EFCC established a prima facie case against Allison-Madueke in a letter to the office of the AGF, after which a magistrate was ordered to issue a warrant of arrest. The certified true copy of the warrant of arrest was then attached to the extradition request written to the UK government by the AGF on the orders of the President,” he said.
He went on to say that the UK authorities’ ongoing review of Allison-Madueke’s plea was the reason behind the delay in her extradition from the UK to Nigeria.
Another reliable source verified that the AGF has written to the UK government and submitted an arrest warrant for Diezani’s extradition to Nigeria; however, extradition procedures are typically difficult because they require the recipient nation’s agreement.
“It is true that the AGF has submitted a warrant of arrest and written to the UK government for Diezani’s extradition to Nigeria, but extradition processes are usually cumbersome as it is subject to the approval of the recipient country. Nigeria has made its request, but the UK has to subject it to their laws, and other international institutional bottlenecks that are in place in the UK.
“So, it is the UK that’ll determine how fast Diezani will be returned to Nigeria,” he told the newspaper.
