The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu on Thursday said that Dieziani Alison Maduake, the former minister of petroleum resources stole more money than the late Nigeria Head of State, Gen Sanni Abacha.
The EFCC boss told Punch that so far only 15% of the loot has been recovered and that it will take years for full recovery to possible.
He also said that the agency is working toward the eventual extradition of the former petroleum minister.
Magu said, “We are working on the process of Diezani’s extradition. But we have to allow them (the UK government) because we are collaborating.”
“There is the National Crime Agency and the Crown Prosecution Service in London, and our colleagues, the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in America. We had cause to meet in London. I was there myself for about a week. We are working not only on the Diezani case but the Diezani case has become a test case.
“It is even more notorious than the so-called Abacha loot because we have not seen anything yet. I’m sure what we have seen is not more than may be 15 per cent. I think it is going to be a long time. That is why sometimes I think we should appeal to the looters to return the loot. Come and tell the government, ‘This is what I have stolen.’ Since you have voluntarily complied with the instruction to bring back the loot, then the government will take a decision. I think it is the best way to go about it, otherwise, the monies would be wasted.
“Diezani has a lot of people who are well connected, like (Jide) Omokore who are international businessmen. They have private aircraft and you can’t see any of them in Nigeria. They went and kept them in Ghana, some of them.”
Magu added that the EFCC is in collaboration with “almost all law enforcement agencies in the world” to recover loot stashed abroad by Nigerians.