A chieftain and erstwhile National Secretary of Labour Party, Kayode Ajulo, has asked Nigerians to be patient and wait until ex-Petroleum Minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke’s prosecution in a London court is concluded before clamouring for her extradition to Nigeria.
He made the call while explaining why the extradition of Diezani may be difficult.
Ajulo, who appeared yesterday on Channels Television’s political programme, Politics Today, doubted if the demand for the extradition of the former minister would yield any meaningful result.
According to him, Diezani was currently on bail and as such, bringing her back to the country might be impossible at the moment because part of her bail conditions involves not traveling out of the UK.
He said those demanding her extradition cannot expect her trial in London to be aborted, stressing that the protest was not the best step to take for now.
Ajulo said: “Since the inception of this administration you can see that Diezani is in London and in London was arrested and was brought before the court of law in which she was granted bail and the matter is still going on.
“For anybody to continue to protest that she must be brought back to Nigeria, then there are some question marks in that. It would have been different if today Diezani is somewhere and nobody is touching her.
“And even the case in London, you’ll find out that even the Nigerian authority has sent most of the documents used to prosecute her and you’ll find out that the Nigerian government is even assisting those in London to ensure the adequate prosecution.
“Mind you, she is on bail now and the bail, I’m sure will not permit her to come to Nigeria,” the lawyer noted.
“For you to see some people now raising an issue on that, protesting that she must be brought to Nigeria, then that leaves a question mark. The question mark is for what purpose?
“I would have wanted a situation that those who are raising this issue should wait until after the criminal procedure in London is over. Then if she’s brought back to Nigeria, then if anybody wants to ask for her trial that would have been better.
“Why I’m saying that is this, we cannot continue to protest against what is happening there (in London) because by asking that she should come back to Nigeria, are we going to say that the criminal procedure against her should be aborted?
“That will make us a laughing stuff and that is why I believe what is being done particularly in asking the EFCC to bring her back to Nigeria may not work and I don’t think it is a misplaced priority,” he said.
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