Monday, April 28, 2014

Petroleum minister gets court injunction stopping Reps from probing N10billion jet scandal

Nigeria’s embattled petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has secured a court injunction ordering the House of Representatives to discontinue an ongoing investigation of how the minister allegedly squandered more than N10billion of public funds leasing private jets for two years.
A federal court in Abuja restrained the House, its committees or representatives from summoning Mrs. Alison-Madueke or requesting that she produce papers, documents or give evidence relating to the jet spending.
The presiding judge, A. R. Mohammed, also barred the lawmakers from ordering the minister’s arrest for failing to appear before the House Committee on Public Accounts, which is probing the allegation.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke is accused of spending billions of naira for the services of private jets she deployed for mostly personal trips. State oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, supervised by the minister, has absolved the minister of wrongdoing.

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