Alleged $2.5bn fraud: FG writes UK govt, seeks Diezani’s extradition

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has submitted a warrant of arrest and request to the Crown Prosecution Services of the United Kingdom for the immediate extradition of a former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Allison-Madueke.

Punch reports that the request, made on the orders of President Bola Tinubu, followed a written official request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the office of the AGF earlier in October.

A top Federal Government source said that in making the extradition request, the office of the AGF cited Section 2 (2) of Nigeria’s Extradition Act, CAP E25, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and the London Scheme of Extradition within the Commonwealth otherwise known as “The Scheme,” a multilateral treaty which governs extradition between the United Kingdom and Nigeria.

“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,” the source said

It was further revealed that the delay in Allison-Madueke’s extradition to Nigeria from the UK was due to an ongoing internal review of the request by the UK authorities.

“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 said