Diezani Alison-Madueke

Diezani Alison-Madueke

Diezani Alison-Madueke at the World Economic Forum on Africa in 2012
Federal Minister of Transportation
In office
26 July 2007 – 17 December 2008
Preceded by Precious Sekibo
Succeeded by Ibrahim Bio
Federal Minister of Mines & Steel Development
In office
17 December 2008 – 17 March 2010
Preceded by Sarafa Tunji Ishola
Succeeded by Musa Mohammed Sada
Federal Minister of Petroleum Resources
In office
6 April 2010 – 28 May 2015
Preceded by Rilwanu Lukman
Succeeded by Muhammadu Buhari
President of OPEC
In office
27 November 2014 – 2 December 2015
Preceded by Abdourhman Atahar Al-Ahirish
Succeeded by Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu
Personal details
Born Diezani K. Agama
(1960-12-06) 6 December 1960
Port Harcourt, Rivers State
Nationality Nigeria
Spouse(s) Allison Madueke

Diezani K. Alison-Madueke (born 6 December 1960) is a Nigerian politician and the first female President of OPEC. She was elected at the 166th OPEC Ordinary meeting in Vienna on 27 November 2014.[1] She became Nigeria's minister of transportation on 26 July 2007. She was moved to Mines and Steel Development in 2008, and in April 2010 was appointed Minister of Petroleum Resources.

Background

Diezani K. Agama was born in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. Her father was Chief Frederick Abiye Agama. She studied architecture in England and then at Howard University in the United States.[2] She graduated from Howard with a bachelor's degree on 8 December 1992.[3] She returned to Nigeria and joined Shell Petroleum Development Corporation that year. In 2002, she attended Cambridge University for her MBA degree.[2] In April 2006, Shell appointed her its first female Executive Director in Nigeria.[4]

Since 1999 she has been married to Admiral Allison Madueke (retired), one-time Chief of Naval Staff who was at various times governor of Imo and Anambra State.[2] She has two sons, Chimezie Madueke and Ugonna Madueke.[5] In September 2011 Alison-Madueke was awarded an honorary Doctorate degree in Management Sciences by the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.[6]

In September 2008 there was an unsuccessful attempt to kidnap Alison-Madueke at her house in Abuja with her son Chimezie Madueke.[7]

Federal cabinet positions

Diezani Alison-Madueke has held three significant positions in the Nigerian federal government. She was appointed Transport Minister in July 2007..... On 23 December 2008, she was named as Minister of Mines and Steel Development.[8] After Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan became acting President in February 2010, he dissolved the cabinet on 17 March 2010, and swore in a new cabinet on 6 April 2010 with Alison-Madueke as Minister for Petroleum Resources.[9]

Minister of Petroleum Resources

As Minister of Petroleum Resources, Alison-Madueke pledged to transform Nigeria's oil and gas industry so that all Nigerians benefit.[10]

In April 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan signed the Nigerian Content Act, which aimed to increase the percentage of petroleum industry contracts awarded to indigenous Nigerian businesses – a reaction to the domination of the sector by foreign operators.[11]

One of the most controversial policies introduced under Alison-Madueke was the government's plan to remove state subsidies on fuel prices. Alison-Madueke supported the discontinuation of the subsidy "because it poses a huge financial burden on the government, disproportionately benefits the wealthy, [and] encourages inefficiency, corruption and diversion of scarce public resources away from investment in critical infrastructure."[12]

Firsts

Alison-Madueke was the first woman to hold the position of Minister of Petroleum Resources in Nigeria, and in October 2010 she became the first woman to head a country delegation at the semi-annual OPEC conference. She was also the first female Minister of Transportation, and the first woman to be appointed to the board of Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria.[13] On 27 November 2014, she was elected as the first female President of OPEC.[14]

On working in male-dominated sectors, Alison-Madueke said she warned the young women she mentored while at Shell to "change their mode of thinking."[15]

Alleged misconduct

A PBS NewsHour segment quoted American and British officials saying that former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke might personally have organized a diversion of $6 billion (N1.2 trillion) from the Nigerian treasury. She was arrested in London on 2 October 2015.[16]

She has been charged with responsibility for $20 billion missing from the Petroleum agency. A former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Sanusi, made the comment again during a PBS interview on 2 December 2015.[17][18] Sanusi believes he was fired from the Central Bank of Nigeria because he went public with charges that $2 billion was missing from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) under Alison-Madueke's management. Alison Madueke says Sanusi made the allegations to retaliate after she didn’t help him to get appointed as the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and dismissed his allegation.[19]

She's been accused of awarding multi-billion Naira contracts without recourse to due process[20][21][22] and of recklessly spending government funds.[5][23] as well as wasting billions of Nigerian dollars inappropriately on private jets.[21]

In October 2009, the Senate of Nigeria indicted Diezani Alison-Madueke and recommended prosecution for the transfer of 1.2 billion naira into the private account of a toll company without due process and in breach of concession agreement.[24]

However, she was not officially charged or tried for these allegations and has strongly denied any wrongdoing.[21][25]

2015 London arrest

On 2 October 2015, Reuters reported that Alison-Madueke had been arrested by the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) along with four other people on suspicion of bribery and corruption offences. However, a spokesperson for the police denied having any knowledge of the incident.[26][27] Her family and the Nigerian Government confirmed that she had been arrested in London, although the NCA declined to comment on the case.[28][29][30][31][32]

Also in Nigeria, her home in Asokoro, Abuja was raided and sealed by anti-corruption agents of the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, a few hours after her alleged arrest in London.[26][33]

Health

Alison-Madueke revealed that while in office, she had been undergoing treatments for breast cancer in the United Kingdom.[34][35]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Nigerian Minister Becomes 1st OPEC Female President". NUJEurope. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-28.
  2. 1 2 3 Kunle Hamilton (14 July 2007). "Diezani Allison-Madueke ...A passion from the creeks to the peak". Daily Sun. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  3. ↑ "Diezani Alison-Madueke's year of graduation faulted by Howard University". Nigeria News. 7 August 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2011.
  4. ↑ "Shell names first female director, three others". Sun News Publishing. 24 April 2006. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  5. 1 2 Ndigbo, Ogbuefi (18 January 2012). "Diezani Allison Madueke`s sons' Scandalous private jet lifestyle". Elombah. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012.
  6. ↑ "Yet another garland for Diezani Alison-Madueke". Vanguard (Nigeria). September 17, 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
  7. ↑ Modibbo, Ibrahim (29 September 2008). "Nigeria: Police Foil Attempt to 'Kidnap' Allison-Madueke". Leadership. Abuja, Nigeria. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "Alison-Madueke resumes at Mines and Steel ministry". The Punch. 24 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  9. ↑ "New Cabinet Unveiled as Nigeria's Acting President Shores Up Position". IHS Global Insight. 7 April 2010. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015.
  10. ↑ Diezani Alison-Madueke. "Oil and Gas Working for All Nigeria Part 1". Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  11. ↑ Hamisu Muhammad (4 May 2010). "Content Law - of Content And Contempt". Daily Trust. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  12. ↑ Tunde Dodondawa (9 January 2012). "FG outlines benefits of fuel subsidy removal". Nigerian Tribune. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012.
  13. ↑ "NDA awards Alison-Madueke doctorate degree". SweetCrude Reports. 17 September 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  14. ↑ Okafor, Chineme (27 November 2014). "Petroleum Minister, Alison-Madueke Elected First OPEC Female President". This Day Live. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015.
  15. ↑ "NPDC's Appointment of a Funding Partner Has Been Greatly Misunderstood – Alison-Madueke". ThisDay. 12 June 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  16. ↑ Jolo Sobuto (7 December 2015). "Ex-minister might have personally supervised stealing of $6bn [VIDEO]". pulse.ng. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  17. ↑ Jola Sobutu (7 December 2015). "'Nigeria was losing $1bn a month under Jonathan,' Emir says [VIDEO]". pulse.ng. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  18. ↑ Nick Schifrin (2 December 2015). "How a cancer of corruption steals Nigerian oil, weapons and lives". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  19. ↑ Jolo Sobuto (7 April 2016). "Panama Papers will expose more Nigerians". pulse.ng. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  20. ↑ Udo, Bassey (18 March 2015). "Missing $20bn: Alison-Madueke sues PREMIUM TIMES, APC, 9 others". The Premium Times. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015.
  21. 1 2 3 "The Diezani Allison-Madueke Saga: Another Private Jet Uncovered!". Bella Naija. 26 March 2014. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015.
  22. ↑ "Nigerian Senate probes mystery govt payments". Mail & Guardian. South Africa. 27 June 2008. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015.
  23. ↑ "Diezani Alison-Madueke Maintained Rooms In Two New York Luxury Hotels During UN Assembly". Sahara Reporters. 28 September 2012. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015.
  24. ↑ "N300bn TRANSPORTATION contractS:Senate report indicts Anenih, Okonjo-Iweala, Ciroma". Vanguard News. Lagos, Nigeria. 12 October 2009. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015.
  25. ↑ "I Haven't Committed Any Crime - Diezani Alison Madueke". Nigeria News. 22 April 2015. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015.
  26. 1 2 http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/02/us-nigeria-oil-arrest-idUSKCN0RW21020151002
  27. ↑ https://www.thenews.ng/metro/breaking-news-diezani-alison-madueke-arrested-in-london/
  28. ↑ "Nigeria's ex-oil minister 'arrested in London'". BBC.com. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  29. ↑ "UK crime agency authorised to seize cash from Nigeria ex-oil minister - court". Reuters. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  30. ↑ "Nigeria's Former Oil Minister Alison-Madueke Arrested in U.K.". Bloomberg News. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  31. ↑ "International Corruption Unit arrests". UK National Crime Agency. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  32. ↑ "Identities of those arrested along with Diezani revealed". Daily Post. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  33. ↑ "EFCC seals Abuja home of former Nigerian minister, Alison-Madueke". Premium Times. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  34. ↑ Clifford Ndujihe (10 October 2015). "Cancer: Pray for me, Diezani begs Nigerians". Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  35. ↑ "Former Petroleum Minister, Alison-Madueke, Undergoing Breast Cancer Treatment". 6 June 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
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