Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, has decried the refusal of the United Kingdom to extradite a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke, to face trial for alleged money laundering in Nigeria.
Magu stated this on Monday, while receiving the “Institution of the Decade” award on behalf of the EFCC at a ceremony organised by Thisday Newspaper to mark its 25th anniversary at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The EFCC boss disclosed that the commission had sufficient evidence to prosecute Allison-Madueke for the alleged financial malfeasance she committed while in office.
The looted funds traced to Allison-Madueke and others, he noted, could be used to keep the wheel of the nation’s economy rolling if recovered.
“We don’t want to keep chasing everybody as a suspect. We want everybody who has stolen from the commonwealth to bring it back to Nigeria so as to use the monies to provide the needed infrastructure,” he stated, according to a statement on Tuesday by the acting EFCC spokesman, Tony Orilade.
While noting that the commission attached great value to the award due to the independence of the judging process that led to the emergence of the EFCC as ‘Editor’s Choice,’ he further noted that the award was “a testimony to the fact that the fight against corruption, spearheaded by the EFCC, is very much on course and must be supported by all Nigerians from all walks of life”.
