The Federal Government has requested the extradition of former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke from the United Kingdom, on 13 counts of money laundering. The request was made by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, on the orders of President Bola Tinubu.

The extradition request was based on 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.

According to a report on The PUNCH, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had earlier established a prima facie case against Alison-Madueke and obtained a warrant of arrest against her from a magistrate. 

A 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.

However, the extradition process has been delayed due to an ongoing internal review of the request by the UK authorities. The UK has to subject the request to its own laws and other international institutional bottlenecks.

Alison-Madueke is currently facing trial at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on an alleged £100,000 bribe. She has pleaded not guilty and is due to appear in court again on October 30.

The EFCC alleges that Alison-Madueke stole $2.5bn from the Nigerian government while she was a minister. She has denied the allegations.

In addition to the extradition request, Alison-Madueke is also facing two lawsuits in Nigeria. In January 2023, she asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to vacate an order granted to the EFCC for final forfeiture of her seized assets. 

In May 2023, she instituted a suit against the EFCC and the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation over what she termed a false and malicious attempt to “paint her as a common criminal.”