$52.8m Returned From U.S. To Nigeria Not My Loot – Diezani Insists

Self-exiled former minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke has declared that the $52.8 million recently returned to Nigeria from the United States does not belong to her in any material particular.

Diezani, who is presently residing in the United Kingdom, pointedly said that the money belongs to a Nigerian oil magnate, Chief Kola Aluko.

These were contained in a statement by her lawyer, Prof. Mike Ozekhome, in which he said that Diezani dismissed the attempt to link her to the funds all in an effort to tarnish her reputation reports connecting.

Diezani stressed that the story linking her to the funds is blatantly false, a clear example of the mischievous and cruel sport of tarnishing her image through a bouquet of consistent, persistent and unrelenting cocktail of falsehoods and misinformation.

Diezani explained that the returned money was part of the sale proceeds from a vessel, the Galactica, which was seized by the US government from Aluko and later sold for which the funds were returned to Nigeria.

She specifically said that the allegations against her were part of a smear campaign aimed at damaging her reputation thus, urged those spreading misinformation to focus on more constructive activities.

The statement reads 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.”