Fact-check: Did  Allison Madueke Admit Entrusting $9 Billion to Gov Dauda of Zamfara State?

Fact-check: Did  Allison Madueke Admit Entrusting $9 Billion to Gov Dauda of Zamfara State?

Claim: Some media reported that a former minister of petroleum, Mrs Allison Madueke, had confessed that she entrusted over $9 billion to Dauda Lawal Dare, the current governor of Zamfara State, while he was an Executive Director with First Bank.

Full Text: Some of the online news platforms claimed that the former petroleum during the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan, quoted Diezani thus: “I am now a born-again Christian and currently grappling with the second stage of cancer, for which my United Kingdom-based physician has advised me to continue medication for the rest of my life. No one is flawless, but God Almighty sometimes permits such occurrences.

“I’ve been accused of financial misconduct as the petroleum minister, and it’s true. However, I would like President Bola Tinubu and Nigerians to forgive me, allow me to return home, and contribute because life is transient.”

Other notable news outlets such as Sahara Reporters, This Nigeria and Business Day also published the story, but with varied headlines, claiming that Mrs Madueke held a press conference in London after a medical visit. She was reportedly begging for leniency from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s led federal government for her return to the country.

Recall that Alison-Madueke, the petroleum minister, left the country for the UK shortly before Jonathan handed over to former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. Since then, she has been embroiled in a legal duel with the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the alleged misappropriation of funds in office. The anti-corruption agency alleged that the former minister stole $2.5 billion from Nigeria’s coffers as minister.

Verification: to verify the authenticity of the viral claim that Diezani Madueke entrusted over $9 billion to Dauda Lawal Dare, the PRNigeria fact-check desk discovered most of the media were misled by a post made by the anti-graft agency on its Instagram handle,  which was later deleted. 

However, attempts by the PRNigeria fact-check desk to use a wayback machine, a fact-checking tool reputed for retrieving deleted posts to get the original post, proved abortive because the post was not archived before the EFCC deleted it.

During the PRNigeria fact-check desk’s deeper investigation to confirm the last public appearance of the embattled former minister, our search revealed that her most recent public appearance was in Westminster Magistrates Court in  London,  on Monday, October 2, 2023, during the hearing of the bribery allegation levelled against her as reported by Reuters. 

Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview granted to Premium Times over the claim, the former minister outrightly denied addressing the press in London, let alone indicting the current Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal.

She did not mince words in describing the story as ‘fake news’. 

“I did not grant an interview to anyone and therefore did not say any of the things attributed to me. It is fake news concocted for reasons I do not know”, she said.

Conclusion: PRNigeria concludes that the former petroleum minister, Allison Madueke, did not hold a press conference, let alone admit entrusting over $9 billion to Dauda Lawal Dare, the current Zamfara state governor. The report is therefore False.

By PRNigeria