The Madueke family release
statement on Diezani's travails
Below is statement issued by the Alison-
Madueke family on the travails and media trial of
the former minister. Read below...
The Truth Versus The Media Hysteria
Against The Madueke Family
1. In this era of cyber terrorism, decency
dictates that one should respond to false
and defamatory allegations with silence.
But there is a limit to how much any
reasonable person can bear the tactics of
these cyber terrorists. We all know that
what makes a lie fly is the little truth
contained therein. This happens to be the
weapon used by most online news media
to feed their weird obsession with
defaming highly placed people.
2. The Madueke family is appalled at the
ongoing media frenzy against Mrs. Diezani
Alison-Madueke by a section of the mass
media following an invitation to her by the
British authorities last Friday for reasons
which have yet to be disclosed. For the
avoidance of doubt, the family would like
to state categorically that it has no issues
with any persons from the family being
invited anywhere in the world to answer
questions about their private or official
conduct. The Madueke family believes in
law and order, honour and due process.
3. However, it is clear that here is a
deliberate and vicious campaign to
demonise members of the Madueke family,
with all manner of frivolous allegations.
For example, an online news media
gleefully published that Mr. Ugonna
Madueke “owns at least three properties in
the United States.” It even called the
properties “POSH” and went on to state
the addresses. THEY LIED.
4. Mr. Ugonna Madueke has NO
PROPERTY ANY WHERE in the United
States and has NEVER OWNED ONE. The
USA is a country which runs on
transparency, accountability and
technology. A little honest effort by the
online news media would have provided in
a few minutes the true ownership of the
properties at issue.
5. For historical accuracy, the Madueke
family avers without any fear of
contradiction that 11711 Scooter Lane (a
three bedroom town house) in Fairfax,
Virginia, was acquired by the Madueke
family in 1997 when Ugonna was only 10
years old. Ugonna’s siblings lived in this
property while attending George Mason
University in Virginia, USA. Records
available to the appropriate authorities in
the United States can also show that
13116 Silver Maple Court in Bowie,
Maryland, USA belongs to an uncle of the
Madueke siblings and was purchased in
1995 when Ugonna was only 8 years old.
As a student of the University of Maryland
in 2002, Ugonna stayed with his uncle at
the said address. All of this was before
Mrs. Diezani was appointed to government
office. No Madueke or a distant relation
has anything to do with the ownership of
No. 4227 Summit Manor Court in Virginia.
6. It is evident that what the online news
media did was to turn on an internet
search engine and maliciously reported
that every property where Ugonna
Madueke has ever lived in the United
States or used as his address must belong
to him. The description of the properties
as POSH was the icing on the propaganda
cake. This is not only unprofessional, as it
offends the tenets of journalism, it is
clearly not in resonance with good
conscience.
7. The online news media also reported
that Ugonna and his cousins registered a
company by name Hadley Petroleum
Solutions Limited which they have been
using to deal in Nigerian crude oil sales. As
young men bubbling with enthusiasm and
fantasy, they registered a company but
after two years of no jobs, the company
folded up. The company never had a bank
account, let alone being a trader of
Nigeria’s crude oil. They lied.
8. The online news media took its
campaign to the in-laws of the Maduekes.
It claimed that Mrs. Beatrice Agama, the
81 year old mother of Mrs. Diezani
Madueke, owns a house in the United
Kingdom. A LIE! Mrs. Agama has no house
or property in the United Kingdom. She has
been staying in a rented two-bedroom flat
from where she is receiving medical
attention for a broken femur. Her son, Timi
Agama who has been living in the UK for
decades, used to have a house in the UK
long before his sister was appointed to
government and he sold it long ago. Since
then, he has no house in the UK.
Archbishop Doye Agama of the Apostolic
Pastoral Congress in Manchester, who is in
his 60s, is a successful professional and
consultant well known amongst his peers,
but he does not own Unit 8 Quebec
Building in Manchester which the online
newspaper ascribed to him.
9. As though to outdo the sensational
allegations in the online publication, the
mainstream media in Nigeria has been
alleging that Mrs. Diezani attempted to
purchase a property on Hyde Park Street in
London for a whooping amount which
embarrassingly ranges from 12.5 million
sterling pounds to 13 billion sterling
pounds. This claim is utterly false and
laughable, for the amounts mentioned are
only in the imagination of the reporters.
This property is quite popular. It belongs to
a well-known eminently successful Nigerian
entrepreneur who would also find this
allegation embarrassing as the intention to
sell the property has neither been
contemplated nor disclosed to any person.
10.
It is worthy to note that despite all the
frenzy over Mrs. Diezani Madueke, not
even one reporter or journalist has tried to
contact the family to verify any of the
rumors they have published with reckless
abandon. This may be because they know
the stories are false but it feeds the mood
of the moment. Hence, the silence from
Diezani all along. It is worth emphasising
that Mrs Alison-Madueke was never
arrested or detained and her passport was
never seized. She was merely invited, and
she honoured it promptly.
11. The Madueke family, like
most other families, have their own
challenges. For instance, Mrs. Diezani
Alison-Madueke has been receiving
treatment for cancer in the UK which
started while she was in office. The health
crisis has unfortunately exacerbated in
recent times. She completed months of
chemotherapy just last week and she is
scheduled to undergo surgery next week in
London. The family has been bearing this
challenge with prayers and as much grace
and fortitude as possible; and would plead
with all reasonable Nigerians to pray for
her recovery so that she can face this
allegation and give account of her
stewardship. Yes, she can—and very well,
too.
12. The Madueke and Agama
families would want the decent public to
know that neither Ugonna nor Somze or
Abiye or anyone related to the two families
was picked up or arrested or invited for
questioning by anybody whatsoever.
Ugonna’s father (the Rear Admiral) has
been in Lagos and working in his office.
The lies about his having travelled with a
team of lawyers should please stop. The
Madueke family has taken a decision on
how to appropriately deal with those who
are on a mission to soil their hard earned
family name.
Signed for and on behalf of the Madueke
and Agama families.
Barrister Oscar M. Onwudiwe.
Legal Attorney
0814 939 9319.
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