SAN FRANCISCO, June 14, (THEWILL) – The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has seized a N3.58bn mansion in the Asokoro area of Abuja allegedly owned by the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke. At the official exchange rate of N199 to a dollar, the worth of the house comes to $18m.
The commission’s acting Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, who stated this during an interview with a Qatar-based news network, Al-Jazeera, revealed that items found in the house included: jewellery, furniture and a bulletproof gym worth about $2m.
Explaining that the house was part of the $10bn in cash and assets that had been seized by the Federal Government in the last one year, he said; “We have been able to take on a lot of big shots that were hitherto untouchable in the three arms of the military, political class. We have recorded 164 convictions in just one year.
Magu, who went on to deny claims that the fight against corruption was politically-motivated, said; “No, not my EFCC; not the EFCC of today. We are not politicised. If there is an allegation against anybody, we will go after them.”
It would be recalled that the anti-graft agency had revealed in April that it seized wristwatches worth £2m from the wife of the Chairman of Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Nigeria Limited, Mr. Jide Omokore, and Diezani.
According to reports, EFCC confiscated a wristwatch worth £1.4m from Omokore’s wife, while a wristwatch worth £600,000 was seized from Diezani. The wristwatches were said to have been seized during various raids on houses of some suspects on Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, and other places.
