Diezani-Madueke, who made history as Nigeria’s first female Minister of Petroleum Resources and led the nation’s delegation to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) conference in 2010, faces damning claims of embezzling an astounding $6 billion.
Nigerian TV host, Chude Jideonwo, has announced a documentary based on the former petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, titled, Is it Your Money? The Story of Diezani Alison-Madueke, will premiere later this year.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, Jideonwo called the documentary the “biggest-budget docu-series from our dear country.”
“Over the past two years, a 100+ member team has been working quietly on the most ambitious, biggest-budget docu-series project from our dear country. Shot across 3 countries, Covering 8 cities, We traced confirmed and alleged loot across 15 jurisdictions. With exclusive access to investigators from the FBI, the MET Police and the EFCC,” he said.
In April 2010, the former president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, swore in Alison-Madueke as the first woman to hold the Minister of Petroleum Resources position in the country. In October 2010, she became the first woman to head a country delegation at the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) conference.
She was also the first female Minister of Transportation and the first woman appointed to the Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria board. On November 27, 2014, she was elected the first female president of OPEC.
The documentary investigates allegations of corruption during her time as Minister for Petroleum Resources. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alleged that she led a luxurious lifestyle funded by corrupt dealings.
The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has also charged her to court over multiple counts of corruption since she left office.
In 2023, the NCA’s head of the International Corruption Unit (ICU), Andy Kelly, said in a statement, “We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million-pound contracts. Bribery is a pervasive form of corruption, which enables serious criminality and can have devastating consequences for developing countries. These charges are a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex international investigation.”
According to Reuters, Alison-Madueke was accused of benefiting from at least £100,000 (₦194.2 million) in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, flights on private jets, luxury holidays for her family, and the use of multiple London properties.
In October 2023, she appeared before the Westminster Magistrates Court in the UK over the alleged bribe. The judge, Michael Snow, granted the former minister a £70,000 (₦136 million) bail.
The documentary is co-produced by, Judith Audu, Eromo Egbejule and Jideonwo, and executive produced by Jideonwo, Mfon Ekpo, ‘Yemi Adamolekun, Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde and Capital Film Productions.