Diezani Alison-Madueke

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Diezani Alison-Madueke
File:Diezani K. Alison-Madueke - World Economic Forum on Africa 2012.jpg
Diezani Alison-Madueke at the World Economic Forum on Africa in 2012
Federal Minister of Transportation
In office
26 July 2007 – 17 December 2008
Preceded by Precious Sekibo
Succeeded by Ibrahim Bio
Federal Minister of Mines & Steel Development
In office
17 December 2008 – 17 March 2010
Preceded by Sarafa Tunji Ishola
Succeeded by Musa Mohammed Sada
Federal Minister of Petroleum Resources
In office
6 April 2010 – 28 May 2015
Preceded by Rilwanu Lukman
Succeeded by Muhammadu Buhari
President of OPEC
In office
27 November 2014 – 2 December 2015
Preceded by Abdourhman Atahar Al-Ahirish
Succeeded by Emmanuel Kachikwu
Personal details
Born (1960-12-06) 6 December 1960 (age 63)
Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

Diezani K. Alison-Madueke (born 6 December 1960) is a Nigerian politician and the first female President of OPEC. She was elected at the 166th OPEC Ordinary meeting in Vienna on 27 November 2014.[1] She became Nigeria's minister of transportation on 26 July 2007. She was moved to Mines and Steel Development in 2008, and in April 2010 was appointed Minister of Petroleum Resources.

Background

Diezani K. Agama was born in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. Her father was Chief Frederick Abiye Agama. She studied architecture in England and then at Howard University in the United States.[2] She graduated from Howard with a bachelor's degree on 8 December 1992.[3] She returned to Nigeria and joined Shell Petroleum Development Corporation that year. In 2002, she attended Cambridge University for her MBA.[2] In April 2006, Shell appointed her its first female Executive Director in Nigeria.[4]

Since 1999 she has been married to Admiral Allison Madueke (retired), one-time Chief of Naval Staff who was at various times governor of Imo and Anambra State.[2] She has two sons, Chimezie Madueke and Ugonna Madueke.[5] In September 2011 Alison-Madueke was awarded an honorary Doctorate degree in Management Sciences by the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.[6]

In September 2008 there was an unsuccessful attempt to kidnap Alison-Madueke at her house in Abuja with her son Chimezie Madueke.[7]

Federal cabinet positions

Diezani Alison-Madueke has held three significant positions in the Nigerian federal government. She was appointed Transport Minister in July 2007. On 23 December 2008, she was named as Minister of Mines and Steel Development.[8] After Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan became acting President in February 2010, he dissolved the cabinet on 17 March 2010, and swore in a new cabinet on 6 April 2010 with Alison-Madueke as Minister for Petroleum Resources.[9]

Minister of Petroleum Resources

As Minister of Petroleum Resources, Alison-Madueke pledged to transform Nigeria's oil and gas industry so that all Nigerians benefit.[10]

In April 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan signed the Nigerian Content Act, which aimed to increase the percentage of petroleum industry contracts awarded to indigenous Nigerian businesses – a reaction to the domination of the sector by foreign operators.[11]

One of the most controversial policies introduced under Alison-Madueke was the government's plan to remove state subsidies on fuel prices. Alison-Madueke supported the discontinuation of the subsidy on the grounds that it "poses a huge financial burden on the government, disproportionately benefits the wealthy, [and] encourages inefficiency, corruption and diversion of scarce public resources away from investment in critical infrastructure."[12]

Firsts

Alison-Madueke was the first woman to hold the position of Minister of Petroleum Resources in Nigeria, and in October 2010 she became the first woman to head a country delegation at the annual OPEC conference. She was also the first female Minister of Transportation, and the first woman to be appointed to the board of Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria.[13] On 27 November 2014, she was elected as the first female President of OPEC.[14]

On working in male-dominated sectors, Alison-Madueke said she warned the young women she mentored while at Shell to "change their mode of thinking."[15]

Controversy

A PBS NewsHour segment quoted American and British officials saying that former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke might personally have organized a diversion of $6 billion (N1.2 trillion) from the Nigerian treasury. She was arrested in London on October 2, 2015.[16]

She has been charged with responsibility for $20 billion missing from the Petroleum agency. A former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Sanusi, made the comment again during a PBS interview on December 2, 2015.[17] [18] Sanusi believes he was fired from the Central Bank of Nigeria because he went public with charges that $2 billion was missing from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) under Alison-Madueke's management. Alison Madueke says Sanusi made the allegations to retaliate after she didn’t help him to get appointed as the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and dismissed his allegation.[19]

She's been accused of awarding multi-billion Naira contracts without recourse to due process[20][21][22] and of recklessly spending government funds.[5][23] as well as wasting billions of Nigerian dollars inappropriately on private jets.[citation needed]

In October 2009, the Senate of Nigeria indicted Diezani Alison-Madueke and recommended prosecution for the transfer of 1.2 billion naira into the private account of a toll company without due process and in breach of concession agreement.[24]

However, she was never been officially charged or tried for these allegations and has strongly denied any wrongdoing.[21][25]

2015 London arrest

On October 2, 2015, Reuters reported that Alison-Madueke had been arrested by the National Crime Agency (NCA) along with five other people on suspicion of bribery and corruption offences. Her family confirmed she had been arrested in London.[26] The National Crime Agency in the UK, however declined to comment.[27][28]

Also in Nigeria, her home in Asokoro, Abuja was raided and sealed by anti-corruption agents of the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, soon after her alleged arrest in London.[29]

Health

Alison-Madueke revealed that while in office, she had been undergoing treatments for breast cancer in the United Kingdom.[30][31]

See also

References

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  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/02/us-nigeria-oil-arrest-idUSKCN0RW21020151002
  28. ↑ http://www.thenews.ng/2015/10/02/breaking-news-diezani-alison-madueke-arrested-in-london/
  29. ↑ " EFCC seals Abuja home of former Nigerian minister, Alison-Madueke"
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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