Earlier
today, Al Jazeera released a video report, claiming a house worth $18million
and allegedly owned by Diezani had been seized by the EFCC in Abuja. They also
claimed that jewelry worth millions of dollars belonging to the former Minister
of Petroleum was also seized.
Reacting
to the report, which has gone viral, Diezani said the report represented
'everything ridiculous and despicable about professional media practice and
global best practices in the war against corruption.'. She said she's being
demonized and that even market women have jewelry. Read the full statement
personally signed by her and given exclusively to Signal after the cut...
My
attention has been drawn to a report by Al Jazeera, which was released on
Monday as a testament to the effectiveness of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) in its war against corruption.
In
the video report, which has been widely circulated in the social media, there
are claims about me owning a property in Abuja allegedly worth $18 million. The
report, which represents everything ridiculous and despicable about
professional media practice and global best practices in the war against corruption,
is the latest attempt to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. Clips of
jewelry allegedly worth over $2 million were also copiously displayed as if to
feed the cravings of an audience gratified with the notion that every wealthy
Nigerian is corrupt.
This
will not be the first time calculated attempts have been made to demonise and
damage my reputation in the public space. Many times, my detractors have gotten
away with these irresponsible smear campaigns because they have become
accustomed to my characteristic approach of silence in the face of these
callous attacks.
The
latest in the string of propaganda attacks launched against my person since I
left government as Nigeria’s Petroleum Minister is this Al Jazeera report,
which without any court conviction anywhere in the world attempts to dress
Diezani Alison Madueke in the garb of a common criminal. This, to say the
least, is the height of journalistic brigandage and a sheer mockery of
Nigeria’s anti-corruption war before the eyes of the world who are watching and
asking if the war against corruption is a circus show where suspects are
prosecuted and sentenced on the pages of newspapers and video blogs without
anything as remotely in the semblance of a trial in the courts of law.
When
did it become a crime to own a property in Nigeria? When did it become a crime
for a woman of my status to have in her possession, jewelry? Jewelry, which
women all across the world, including the woman selling tomatoes in Bodija
market have in abundance in their closets? In which court of law, anywhere in
the world was I prosecuted by the EFCC and found guilty of corruption?
With
all sense of modesty, I say this only for posterity and for the records. I have
strived within my means and the blessings of God to live a decent and
accomplished life. I studied architecture in England and obtained a bachelor’s
degree from Howard University, United States of America in 1992. When I
returned to Nigeria that same year, I joined Shell Petroleum Development
Corporation. In 2002, I obtained an MBA at Cambridge University, United
Kingdom. In April 2006, I was appointed by Shell as the company’s first female
Executive Director in Nigeria. In July 2007, I was appointed by the late
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as Minister of Transport. The next year in
December 2008 I became Minister of Mines and Steel Development. In April 2010,
I was appointed as Minister for Petroleum Resources and served in that capacity
till May 2015. During this period as Petroleum Minister, I had the honour of
serving Nigeria and representing her in the Organization of Oil Exporting
Countries (OPEC) where I was elected first female President. All through my
career, I have strived to maintain a record of hard work, integrity and
excellence, giving my best to society, because my parents raised me in the
consciousness that a man or woman’s greatness is defined not by the amount of
wealth they have acquired but the impact of their service to God and humanity.
Coming
at such a critical time in my life when I am battling cancer, this poorly
executed propaganda bares on its face like tribal marks, a clearly malicious
attempt to victimize an innocent woman in what appears an exaggerated plot to
validate and give credibility to the anti-corruption crusade under Nigeria’s
new regime. People who are battling cancer or those who have lost their loved
ones to this medical condition understand what I am going through at this time.
This is what makes me ponder at the cold-heartedness of those who will go any
length to defame and destroy in the name of propaganda. What happened to our
shared humanity?
I
have absolute regard for the law and believe that people who have breached the
laws that govern societies should be made to face the wrath of the law. But in
a civilized society, a responsible government owes its citizens absolute
commitment to the principles of rule of law, equity, fairness and justice. I
have been wrongfully and maliciously maligned and those behind this reckless
action know it.
I
leave them to posterity, their conscience and above all the Almighty God who is
the final judge of all.
Diezani
Alison-Madueke
13/06/2016
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