Diezani Alison-Madueke granted bail in UK

Former Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-
Madueke, who was arrested in London, Friday, has been
granted bail.
Vanguard learned she was granted bail by a magistrate
court in London after she had been detained for several
hours.
Diezani was arrested in London, today, by the
International Corruption Unit (ICU) of the country’s
National Crimes Agency.
The agency announced on its website on Friday that it
had arrested five people “across London” as part of an
investigation into suspected bribery and money
laundering offences but stopped short of naming the
suspects.
The Asokoro, Abuja residence of the immediate-past
minister of Petroleum Resources was also stormed by
operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), in what has been described as part
of a multinational investigation of the former minister.
According to a security source, EFCC made “significant
recovery” of documents at her Abuja residence.
Meanwhile, the Presidency on Friday, declined to
comment on the arrest of Alison-Madueke,as well as, on
the raid of her Abuja residence.

Breaking News: Scores feared dead, as multiple explosions rock Abuja

Kuje Police station, main market, Nyanya bus station
hit
There have been multiple bomb blasts by suspected
Boko Haram terrorists in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, with
two explosions recorded in Kuje, a suburb of the city.
The first occurred in front of the police station, while the
second occurred at the town’s main market, 15 minutes
apart from other.
A third explosion was reported at Nyanya Bus Station
thereafter. Nyanya was the scene of two bombings in
2014, leading to scores of death.
Abuja, a bit remote from the frontline of Boko Haram war
had seen several bombings, beginning from the attack on
Police Headquarters in June 2011, UN Headquarters in
August 2011, Nyanya Bus Station, April 2014 and Barnez
Plaza in June last year.
All the bombs were claimed by Boko Haram.

Only one Nigerian university ranked among world’s top 800 universities

Only one Nigerian university is
ranked among the top 800
universities in the world,
according to Times Higher
Education World University
Rankings for 2015/2016 released
this week.
PREMIUM TIMES’ analysis of the
report showed that the University
of Ibadan, Nigeria’s oldest
university, is ranked 601st of the
world’s top 800 universities
featured in the survey, 200 steps
lower than Makerere University,
Uganda, which is ranked 401st.
The ranking was released on
Wednesday, September 30, 2015.
The University of Cape Town,
South Africa, at 120th position, is
the highest ranked university in
Africa, 481 steps higher than the
University of Ibadan.
Five other South African
universities are included in the
list of top notch universities in the
world, making it the highest from
a single African country.
They are University of
Witwatersrand (20ist);
Stellenbosch University (301st);
University of KwaZulu-Natal
(401st); University of Pretoria
(501st); and University of South
Africa (601st).
Three Egyptian universities,
Alexandria University, Cairo
University, and Suez Canal
University are all ranked 601st on
the list.
Just like Nigeria and Uganda, only
one Ghanaian university, the
University of Ghana is on the list,
and it is ranked 601st.
Morocco too has only one
university, University of
Marrakech Cadi Ayyad (601th), on
the list.
Altogether, 13 universities from
six African countries are included
among the top 800 universities in
the world.
But despite having only one
university in the ranking, this
year’s rating is a great leap for Nigeria. No
Nigerian university has featured in the
ranking since 2011 when the survey began.
The California Institute of Technology, United
States, occupies the number one spot in the
world.
The University of Oxford, United Kingdom is
on the 2nd position, while Stanford
University, United States and University of
Cambridge, United Kingdom are on the 3rd
and 4th positions respectively.

EFCC seals Abuja home of former Nigerian minister, Alison-Madueke

Operatives of Nigeria’s anti-graft
agency, the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission,
EFCC, have raided the Abuja home
of a former Minister of Petroleum
Resources, Diezani Alison-
Madueke, few hours after she was
arrested in London.
EFCC agents arrived Mrs. Alison-
Madueke’s palatial home, located
in the Asokoro district of Abuja,
and sealed the property Friday
evening.
An Abuja resident, who witnessed
the raid, said, “I just left the
place. More and more of them
(EFCC operatives) are arriving.
Two Buses. Three hilux trucks
and about five saloon cars. They
are breaking something inside.
May be doors.
“You can hear the noise. There
are two uniformed operatives
outside and two at the backyard. I
saw also a man brought in in a
black Toyota Corolla with a video
camera and immediately started
video recording from outside the
gate and then went into the
compound. I observed those
operation for about three hours
before I left.”
Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke was
on Friday arrested in London.
The former minister, who was
one of the most powerful officials
of the President Goodluck
Jonathan administration, was
arrested Friday morning
alongside four other people by the
UK National Crime Agency.
The identities of the four other
people arrested along with her
could not be immediately
ascertained.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt she was
arrested for offences related to
bribery and corruption being
investigated by the UK National
Crime Agency.
Two top British officials in
London have confirmed the
development to this newspaper.
They requested not to be named
because they had no permission
to speak on the issue.
More details later.

Source: PREMIUM TIMES

EXCLUSIVE: Ex-Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison- Madueke, arrested in London

The immediate past Minister of
Petroleum Resources, Diezani
Alison-Madueke, was on Friday
arrested in London, PREMIUM
TIMES can exclusively and
authoritatively report.
The former minister, who was
one of the most powerful officials
of the President Goodluck
Jonathan administration, was
arrested Friday morning by the
UK National Crimes Agency,
alongside four other people.
The identities of the four other
people arrested along with her
could not be immediately
ascertained.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt she was
arrested for offences related to
bribery, corruption and money
laundering.
Two top British officials in
London confirmed the
development to this newspaper.
They requested not to be named
because they had no permission
to speak on the issue.
When contacted, the British High
Commission in Nigeria confirmed
that some arrests were made
Friday but declined to disclose the
identities of those involved.
Joseph Abuku, Press and Public
Affairs Officer, said, “This
morning, five people between the
ages of 21 and 60 were arrested
on suspicion of bribery and
corruption offences. The crimes
are being investigated by the
National Crimes Agency.
“The National Crime Agency does
not confirm identity at arrest nor
provide information that could be
used to corroborate the identity of
an arrested individual.”
It is not clear whether the former
minister was arrested based on
request from the Nigerian
government.
President Muhammadu Buhari
had on September 27 hinted that
those who misappropriated
billions of naira belonging to
Nigeria’s state oil company, the
Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation would soon be
prosecuted.
Mr. Buhari said at a meeting with
President Xi Jinping of China in
New York that his administration
was determined to fully sanitize Nigeria’s oil
industry and make it totally free of corruption
and shady deals.
The President did not, however, say how soon
the prosecutions would start or if indeed
investigations had been concluded and
whether culpable individuals had been
identified.
The NNPC under the immediate past
administration of President Goodluck
Jonathan was involved in several shady deals,
many of which have been cancelled by the
present government.
However, Mrs. Alison-Madueke, accused of
several corrupt dealings, has stayed away
from Nigeria since Mr. Buhari was sworn-in
as president.
A controversial minister
Mrs. Alison-Madueke was first appointed into
the federal cabinet in 2007.
A former director at Shell Petroleum
Development Company of Nigeria, she was
appointed Minister of Transport by late
President Umaru Yar’adua. In December 2008,
she was redeployed to the mines and steel
development ministry.
After former Vice President Goodluck
Jonathan became acting president, Mrs.
Alison-Madueke was appointed Nigeria’s first
female petroleum minister in February 2010, a
position she held till May 29, 2015 when Mr.
Jonathan left office.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s tenure as petroleum
minister turned out one of Nigeria’s most
controversial, amid unending allegations of
corruption.
Under her watch, dubious oil marketers stole
trillions of naira of oil subsidy money. She
retained her position after the House of
Representative investigated the scandal and
indicted the minister.
Probes by independent audit firms, including
the KPMG and Pricewaterahousecoopers,
confirmed billions of dollars of oil money
were missing, the most notable being $20
billion in 2014.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke also supervised an
awfully corrupt NNPC, which several shady
deals had been exposed by PREMIUM TIMES
several investigations and confirmed by
government and independent auditors.
Long before her stint in the oil and gas sector,
Mrs. Alison-Madueke was investigated by the
Nigerian Senate on allegation she paid N30.9
billion to contractors while she held office as
transportation minister.
In 2009, the Senate also indicted Mrs. Alison-
Madueke and recommended her for
prosecution for allegedly transferring N1.2
billion into a private account of a toll
company without due process.
Regardless of the mounting criticisms against
her stewardship, Mrs. Alison-Maduke got
elected in November 2014 as the first female
president of oil cartel the Organisation of
Petroleum Exporting Countries.
The former minister consistently denied any
wrongdoing.
In June, after leaving office, she rejected all
allegations of embezzlement, saying she never
stole from Nigeria.

MINISTERIAL LIST: Why Buhari holds on to 15 other nominees

ABUJA—There are feelers from the Presidency that the
remaining 15 names of ministerial nominees will hit the
Senate early next week after what sources described as
‘laborious’ security checks and vetting of the prospective
nominees.
The high-wire tension and expectations with which
Nigerians awaited President Muhammadu Buhari’s
ministerial nominees have been doused with his
submission of names of 21 nominees to the Senate.
As of last night, the various security agencies were said
to be working frantically to beat the new deadline said to
have been given to them by the President.
Vanguard gathered that the security checks on the
remaining nominees are being carried out within and
outside Nigeria.
NIGERIA @55— Third from left: Speaker, House of
Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo; President Muhammadu Buhari; Senate
President, Bukola Saraki and Chief Justice of the
Federation Mahmud Mohammed and others, cutting the
cake to celebrate the 55th Independence Anniversary of
Nigeria at the forecourt of the Presidential Villa, Abuja,
yesterday. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida.
The President on Wednesday forwarded to the Senate,
names of 21 nominees for confirmation, with a promise
to send the others in due course.
Each state of the federation is, by virtue of the
constitution, entitled to a ministerial slot in the federal
cabinet.
Vanguard gathered, yesterday, that the Presidency
insisted that more background checks be conducted on
the nominees, especially against the backdrop of the
need to avoid making mistakes in appointing the wrong
persons into the cabinet.
It was further learned that the names of those
transmitted to the Senate on Wednesday were those
whose background checks had been concluded.

MINISTERIAL LIST: Why Buhari holds on to 15 other nominees

ABUJA—There are feelers from the Presidency that the
remaining 15 names of ministerial nominees will hit the
Senate early next week after what sources described as
‘laborious’ security checks and vetting of the prospective
nominees.
The high-wire tension and expectations with which
Nigerians awaited President Muhammadu Buhari’s
ministerial nominees have been doused with his
submission of names of 21 nominees to the Senate.
As of last night, the various security agencies were said
to be working frantically to beat the new deadline said to
have been given to them by the President.
Vanguard gathered that the security checks on the
remaining nominees are being carried out within and
outside Nigeria.
NIGERIA @55— Third from left: Speaker, House of
Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo; President Muhammadu Buhari; Senate
President, Bukola Saraki and Chief Justice of the
Federation Mahmud Mohammed and others, cutting the
cake to celebrate the 55th Independence Anniversary of
Nigeria at the forecourt of the Presidential Villa, Abuja,
yesterday. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida.
The President on Wednesday forwarded to the Senate,
names of 21 nominees for confirmation, with a promise
to send the others in due course.
Each state of the federation is, by virtue of the
constitution, entitled to a ministerial slot in the federal
cabinet.
Vanguard gathered, yesterday, that the Presidency
insisted that more background checks be conducted on
the nominees, especially against the backdrop of the
need to avoid making mistakes in appointing the wrong
persons into the cabinet.
It was further learned that the names of those
transmitted to the Senate on Wednesday were those
whose background checks had been concluded.