Court clears Diezani in crude oil fraud charge

One of the nine counts of $1.6bn crude oil fraud instituted against businessman, Jide Omokore, and five others was struck out on Wednesday by a Federal High Court in Abuja.

Presiding judge, Nnamdi Dimgba struck out the 8th count.

What happened:

  • The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had alleged that the six defendants diverted about $1.6bn proceeds of sales of petroleum products belonging to the Federal Government and preferred nine charges against them.
  • Former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke who was also indicted had filed an application, claiming that she was not given the opportunity to defend herself.

The defendants:

The defendants include Jide Omokore, including his two companies, Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Limited.

The other defendants are a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, Victor Briggs; a former Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Abiye Membere; and a former Manager, Planning and Commercial of the NNPC, David Mbanefo.

Former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke was also named in the allegations.

The court ruling:

  • The court struck out the eighth charge where the former minister was named.

Comments (4)

  1. Their so called forfeitures and recoveries will soon become fairytale. You don’t prosecute people on pages of newspapers. You do that with Facts.

  2. Their so called forfeitures and recoveries will soon become fairytale. You don’t prosecute people on pages of newspapers. You do that with Facts.

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