Diezanigate: Could this be madness, poverty of mind

The Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison -Madueke, needs no introduction. She was controlling largely the oil industry which even the former President Goodluck Jonathan dare not ask too much questions about.

Incidentally, most people referred to her then as one of the very powerful Jezebels in the former Jonathan’s administration. She was untouchable, immovable and the irredeemable.

The once upon a time most powerful minister with her associates allegedly squandered funds from shady” oil contracts.

They were said to have became so intoxicated with acquisition of properties that most Nigerians began to wonder if it was something psychological or madness. Diezani was so powerful during Jonathan’s regime that nobody could question her actions.

She was also said to have spend one night in one of the seized estates, raising the issue of what is the purpose of acquiring a property without usage

On April 7, 2010, a day after her appointment as Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Alison-Madueke was alleged to have flown to Beverly Hills in Los Angeles to revel in a lavish party and fashion show put together by Christopher Aire, whom she met during her 15-month tenure as Minister for Solid Minerals and Steel Development.

Unfortunately, that has not been the case today. The world is a stage and no condition is permanent.

Since the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government of the All Progressives Congress Party, APC, took over power on May 29, 2015, so many incredible things have been revealed about her- How Diezani alleged business associate, Kola Aluko acquired $80million yacht and a house in USA with Nigeria’s oil money.

But the issue was brought to the forefront when the incredible documents filed before the US court by the US Department of Justice in Houston revealed that Diezani’s alleged business partner, Mr Kola Aluko and another business partner, Mr Jide Omokore, spent lavishly, including splashing millions of dollars on a yacht.

The yacht, a stupendous luxury on water, was once rented by Jay Z and his wife, Beyonce for close to a million dollars during a holiday last year. It also once hosted Beyonce’s 32nd birthday in 2013.

Aluko was also alleged to have acquired a house worth millions of dollars in the Manhattan, United States.

Both Aluko and Omokore were alleged to have paid bribes between 2011 and 2015 to Diezani who ensured that shell companies owned by the businessmen received billion-dollar contracts to sell Nigeria’s crude oil.

The oil swap contracts were a controversial barter arrangement which saw Nigeria use middlemen to sell crude oil in exchange for refined products.

With local refineries under-performing, oil swap deals were used to shore up local demand for petroleum products. Between 2010 and 2014, under Diezani’s watch, Nigeria was estimated to have channeled over 352 million barrels of oil worth a total of $35 billion into oil swap deals. But with the contracts mostly opaque, Nigeria reportedly lost more than $900million in crude oil swap deals between 2009 and 2012.

Diezani was said to have used her position to secure contracts for Aluko and Omokore at the detriment of Nigeria and the laws of the land.

But the music has ended as the saying goes while the sordid details of their infamous act blew open in foreign land.

Prior to the revelations galore, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured interim forfeiture of humongous dollars and mind blowing properties linked to Diezani.

But the US government had filed a suit to recover $144million in assets which were reportedly acquired with proceeds from a shady scheme in Nigeria’s oil industry.

The suit was reportedly filed by the US Justice department’s kleptocracy asset recovery initiative.

Aluko and Omokore reportedly paid bribes between 2011 and 2015 to Diezani in exchange for contracts.

Diezani was also said to have used her position to secure contracts for Aluko and Omokore’s firms through a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Although failing to abide by the terms of the contracts, the firms linked to her associates were reportedly allowed to sell $1.5 billion worth of Nigerian crude oil.

It is instructive to note that the proceeds of the contracts were laundered through Diezani’s associates.