Diezani
Alison-Madueke, former Minister of Petroleum Resources, made many men by her power
and wile. Like the proverbial phantom of the crossroads, by whose legendary
wishes desperate men attain their heart’s desires, she elevated ordinary men
from bumbling entrepreneurs to overnight billionaires while she presided over
the country’s oil industry.
But
having made billionaires and aristocrats of such lowly men, she has decided to
unmake them. As the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prepares a
watertight case against her, Diezani has decided to toss under the train, most
of her former associates and cohorts in the grand scheme by which they fleeced
Nigeria of outrageous revenue from the country’s petro-business.
Today,
Diezani has become the nemesis of many bank chiefs and oil magnates. Sources within
the EFCC revealed that she has started singing like a nightingale, churning out
names of her cohorts after she came to the discomforting realization that many
of them were desperately trying to leave her to her fate.
Until
she started revealing their identities, many of the bank chiefs and oil magnates
that were involved in one shady deal or the other with her, allegedly stopped
picking her calls. They deserted her and left her to roast in the heat of the
EFCC’s anticorruption campaign. This allegedly infuriated Diezani and she swore
to bring all of her cohorts down with her.
Just
recently, Nnamdi Okonkwo, former Fidelity Bank Managing Director (MD), was
arrested by the EFCC over fraud related charges. Okonkwo was arrested by the
EFCC for allegedly receiving $115million in slush fund from former the Minister
of Petroleum Resources, Diezani.
The
money was allegedly used to bribe officials of the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) to rig the 2015 presidential election in favour of ex-President
Goodluck Jonathan. The fraud was uncovered when the EFCC began investigations
into how officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Rivers,
Delta and Akwa Ibom states received N675.1m.
Findings
revealed that Okonkwo was actually introduced to Diezani by former governor of Anambra
State, Peter Obi. Obi reportedly took Okonkwo to Diezani claiming he is the
most dependable guy she could work with in distributing the illicit $115million
slush fund. Promptly, Diezani took to Obi’s advice and co-opted Okonkwo in her
grand scheme to rig the March 28 general elections in favour of her former
principal and ex-president, Jonathan.
While
the plunder lasted, friends of the former petroleum minister and her closest associates
profited immensely by their association with her. They made what is known in
high society parlance as ‘mad money.’ They acquired private jets at will and
flew across the world to acquire choice properties in exclusive neighborhoods
of the global rich.
Now
that the bauble has burst, many of the men and women that looted the country and
profited illicitly by their association with Diezani are set to face retribution
by the long arm of the law. And Diezani is leaving no stone unturned to unmask
them and bring them down with her into the EFCC’s net.
Source:
Capital NG
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