Alison-Madueke arraigned, granted bail

The crimes are being investigated by the National Crimes Agency.

Tweets of her arrest and the storming of her home in Abuja by EFCC operatives got many retweets of their own and by 8.25pm, even without any hashtag, “Diezani”, sits pretty on number one trend subjects.

Diezani Alison-Madueke was minister in charge of petroleum resources under Goodluck Jonathan, who was replaced as president by Muhammadu Buhari this year.

A police spokesman in London said he had no record of such an arrest. A terse statement yesterday on the Agency’s website titled “International Corruption Unit arrests” stated that “the National Crime Agency’s recently formed global Corruption Unit has arrested five people across London as part of an investigation into suspected bribery and money laundering offences”.

However, Mrs. Alison-Madueke, accused of several corrupt dealings, has stayed away from Nigeria since Mr. Buhari was sworn-in as president.

Reuters was unable to succeed in Alison-Madueke’s private assistant or a lawyer representing her. She has beforehand denied to Reuters any wrongdoing when questioned about lacking funds and graft allegations.

Buhari said on Sunday that the prosecution of those suspected of misappropriating the NNPC’s revenue under past administrations would begin soon.

It was learnt that Alison-Madueke, who blocked moves by the House of Representatives to probe her alleged ostentatious lifestyle – including flying in private jets at a cost to tax payers – as a minister of Nigeria’s lucrative petroleum minister, was arrested for offences related to bribery and corruption being investigated by the UK National Crime Agency.

Sources from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) also confirmed the arrests.