The federal government last week listed for auction 1620 properties recovered across the country. They include cars and houses.
Prominent among those who allegedly forfeited the properties is Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, the government prosecutes in the media like policemen parading suspects. Not only did the government recover real estate from her, it claimed to have recovered such personal property as shoes and blankets, “30 pieces of braziers” and “11 pieces of invisible bra.”
The question that lingers in the heart of Nigerians is; How did the woman ever wear waist trainers and suits and “braziers” or bras without panties? Where did her panties go? What other personal items are not listed?
Second, in its July 2017 asset forfeiture case, the United States detailed the Alison-Madueke’s acquisition of four million dollars’ worth of choice furniture in Houston.
“At least one of the items…has been matched by vendor number, item number, and store-issued control number to furniture discovered in Alison-Madueke’s residence in Abuja, Nigeria,” it said. But that furniture is not listed in the auction notice.
Finally, in April 2019, Buhari directed Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed to dispose of all assets recovered by his government since he assumed office within six months. In November 2020, he set up another committee, headed by Attorney General Abubakar Malami, again to sell off all such assets, also within six months.
Neither of those committees did business transparently, and it is anyone’s guess what was sold—if anything—and to whom.
