Former Minister for Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke has denied allegations that she blocked a move by former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to contest for the presidency of the African Development Bank, stating that it was some un-named aides under then President Goodluck Jonathan that scuttled Sanusi’s dream.
She disclosed this in an interview with Dele Momodu, having promised back in the United Kingdom in October that she would speak about her stewardship as Nigeria’s first petroleum minister.
Sanusi, who is now the Emir of Kano, had a run-in with the Jonathan administration close to the end of his tenure as head of the nation’s apex bank, one of which involved an allegation that $20 billion was not remitted into the nation’s coffers by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
Alison-Madueke said of Sanusi’s relationship with the president’s aides: “There were those who said the then Governor of Central Bank must have been angry at me because of the way the Presidency treated him.
“In all honesty, he was being blocked from seeing the President by some of Oga’s people (presidential aides) but it had nothing to do with me.
“I was the one who even told Oga about the development and Oga said he would meet him in London on one of his trips.
“Unfortunately, my boss fell ill and was rushed to King Edward Hospital and the meeting was aborted.”
“Sanusi and I had been friends. There was no way I would have done anything bad to him. He even came to my house to inform me about his interest in heading the African Development Bank and we discussed for about two hours.
“I promised to support him and I spoke to Oga about it. We were together on the Reconciliation Committee that looked into the accounts of NNPC.
Femi Adesina, Nigeria’s immediate-past substantive agriculture minister, was elected to the exalted office of President of the AfDB in May 2015.