Court bans Nigeria’s Ex-Petroleum Minister from leaving The UK

Portia Arthur 14:44 - 08 October 2015

Diezani Alison-Madueke

The former minister, who was one of the most powerful officials of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, was arrested by the UK National Crimes Agency, alongside four other people.

Nigeria’s Ex-Petroleum Minister, Mrs Alison-Madueke was granted bail on Monday but her international passport was seized.

The London Westminster Magistrate’s Court on Marylebone Road granted an order that she should remain in London while investigations last.

The court approved the holding of the £27,000 cash seized from her, following an application brought by the NCA under the Proceeds of Crime Act in the UK.

Mrs Alison-Madueke was arrested last week along with four others by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) for suspected bribery and money laundering.

Boasting a Cambridge degree and a portfolio of senior government positions in her native Nigeria, she is also the first female president of the OPEC oil cartel.

Mrs Alison-Madueke, 54, part of a prominent Nigerian family and a former Shell executive, was appointed as Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources in March 2010 by now former president Goodluck Jonathan.