Former Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Alison-Madueke has said she was never arrested by the National Crime Agency, NCA, as being reported in many quarters but was merely extended an invitation which she honored.
She stated this in a statement through her lawyer Oscar Onwudiwe and maintained that at no time was her passport seized; adding that despite the media frenzy not even one reporter or journalist had tried to contact the family to verify any of the publications.
They are said to be Directors of Hadley Petroleum Solutions Limited, a company the reports claim to have been used for money laundering. Other Directors are Ugonna Madueke and Abu Fari.
In response, her lawyer said: “It is worth emphasizing that Mrs Alison-Madueke was never arrested or detained and her passport was never seized. She was merely invited, and she honoured it promptly.
- “But there is a limit to how much any reasonable person can bear the tactics of these cyber terrorists. We all know that what makes a lie fly is the little truth contained therein. This happens to be the weapon used by most online news media to feed their weird obsession with defaming highly placed people,” he added.
According to him, the Madueke family has no issue with any persons from the family being invited anywhere in the world to answer questions about their private or official conduct, adding that the family believes in law and order, honour and due process.
- “The USA is a country which runs on transparency, accountability and technology. A little honest effort by the online news media would have provided in a few minutes the true ownership of the properties at issue,” Onwudiwe said.
According to him, the 11711 Scooter Lane residence (a three-bedroom town house) in Fairfax, Virginia, was acquired by the Madueke family in 1997 when Ugonna was only 10 years old.
He further clarified that Ugonna’s siblings lived in this property while attending George Mason University in Virginia, USA.
The lawyer stated that records available to the appropriate authorities in the United States can also confirm that 13116 Silver Maple Court in Bowie, Maryland, USA belongs to an uncle of the Madueke siblings and was purchased in 1995 when Ugonna was only eight years old.
- “As a student of the University of Maryland in 2002, Ugonna stayed with his uncle at the said address. All of this was before Mrs. Diezani was appointed to government office.
“It is evident that what the online news media did was to turn on an internet search engine and maliciously reported that every property where Ugonna Madueke has ever lived in the United States or used as his address must belong to him.
“The description of the properties as posh was the icing on the propaganda cake. This is not only unprofessional, as it offends the tenets of journalism, it is clearly not in resonance with good conscience,” Onwudiwe explained.
He also noted that online news media took a campaign to the in-laws of the Maduekes alleging that Beatrice Agama, the 81-year-old mother of Diezani, owns a house in the United Kingdom.
Onwudiwe described the allegation as a lie, stressing that Agama had no house or property in the United Kingdom.
- “She has been staying in a rented two-bedroom flat from where she is receiving medical attention for a broken femur. Her son, Timi Agama, who has been living in the UK for decades, used to have a house in the UK long before his sister was appointed to government and he sold it long ago. Since then, he has no house in the UK.
“Archbishop Doye Agama of the Apostolic Pastoral Congress in Manchester, who is in his 60s, is a successful professional and consultant well known amongst his peers, but he does not own Unit 8 Quebec Building in Manchester which the online newspaper ascribed to him,” Onwudiwe explained.
He also accused mainstream media in Nigeria of alleging the former Petroleum Minister attempted to purchase a property on Hyde Park Street in London “for a whooping amount which embarrassingly ranges from £12.5 million sterling to £13 billion sterling.”
“This claim is utterly false and laughable, for the amounts mentioned are only in the imagination of the reporters. This property is quite popular. It belongs to a well-known eminently successful Nigerian entrepreneur who would also find this allegation embarrassing as the intention to sell the property has neither been contemplated nor disclosed to any person.
“The Madueke family, like most other families, has its own challenges. For instance, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke has been receiving treatment for cancer in the UK which started while she was in office. The health crisis has unfortunately exacerbated in recent times.
“She completed months of chemotherapy just last week and she is scheduled to undergo surgery next week in London. The family has been bearing this challenge with prayers and as much grace and fortitude as possible; and would plead with all reasonable Nigerians to pray for her recovery so that she can face this allegation and give account of her stewardship. Yes, she can—and very well, too.”
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